Growth
by Achoopredator
Summary: At the age of 24, Hachiman and Yukino have both completed their graduations at their respective universities. Meanwhile, Yui attempts to begin her singing career. The 3 haven't seen each other since high school. And so... 6 years after they last saw each other... here's how the events unfold...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- And I wonder... who's... loving you...**

 **Hachiman POV**

The last time I ever worked this hard was in my high school entrance exams. However the reason was extremely childish now that I look back at it. My desire to get my hands onto that literature degree wasn't childish at all. However the amount of effort I put into both of these circumstances were very much similar. With my hands on a degree as such, I can now go on to write my ass off without having anyone nag me saying things like "Get up and do some real work!" _To work is to lose..._

As much as I resisted the thought of having to work as a complete peasant in life, I was reluctant to drive taxis as a part-time job. I agree, going to a university means you must also contribute to your family's finances. However what I had in mind were along the lines of shop assistant or receptionist. Not a bloody taxi driver. Despite me on the verge of having a driving license, I was determined to avoid taxi driving at all costs. It is downright boring and time-consuming. As soon as my dad found out that taxi driving would bring more money compared to other part-time jobs available to me, he had made his decision. As a grown adult, I tried everything in my power to change that decision. However my dad was having none of it. He played the trump card that I wished he wouldn't play.

 _"Listen Hachiman... if you don't agree to this job then I guess I'll..."_

The method of blackmail has always been something I feared someone might use on me. As annoyed I was at dad's statement, I wanted THAT THING more than anything at that point. Besides, considering that this blackmail was the only 'mail' I received from a person in the last 4 years of my life, I graciously accepted it.

And now, on my last day of taxi driving, here I am. A pleasant Saturday dawn. At the airport, just where I was supposed to be. Sitting inside the taxi, waiting for a client. With no incoming clients, I bring out my phone to listen to some radio.

 _"Good morning and thank you to everyone for joining us on Radio Japan! It's time for the 5 AM news catchup! Over to you, Natsu-san!"_

 _"That's right it is time for the 5 news at 5_ AM. **[1]** _News item number 1: Steve Harvey apologises on social media after last night's events as he announced the wrong winner of Miss Universe. He announced the winner of the competition to be Colombia, only to later reveal that the winner was actually Philippines. News item number 2: Vladimir Putin has described Donald Trump to be an "absolute front-runner" for next year's USA presidential elections. News item number 3: Astronaut Tim Peake becomes the first British to enter the ISS. He made his journey along with Russian Yuri Malenchencko and American Tim Kopra on board._ News _item number 4: Japan soccer team look upbeat even after the loss suffered at the hands of Italy. The team suffered a 4-1 loss to the Europeans after taking the lead with a great free-kick goal by Hayama Hayato. News item number_ _5: Japan's got talent comes to Chiba where our reporter Kakashi-san shall describe the scenes. Over to you!"_ **[2]**

 _"Thank you very much. Now, here outside the audition center we already have a massive crowd filled with numerous talented individuals here to express their talent to the judges who haven't been too impressed so far with the other cities let's be honest. The noise as you can hear, is deafening over here even at 5 AM! The auditions start at 8:30 so make sure you tune in for all the latest highlights and reactions on their website. As of now, back to you Natsu-san!"_

 _"Thanks for that Kakashi-san and a big thank you to YOU for tuning in for 5 news at 5 AM. For more updates, you can check out our website..."_ My eyes started to feel heavy and slowly... and slowly... and slowly...

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

The sound of a knock on my window intercepted of what was going to be a deep sleep. I quickly sat up, rolled my eyes, and exited the car to greet a person who might have been a customer. To me, it looked like a young woman in her 20s. She was wearing a large white trench coat which helped her long jet black hair to cover majority of her face up. Besides, we didn't make eye contact as she was constantly staring at her luggage and her watch.

"I'm sorry if I caused any inconvenience." I apologised in attempt to make amends for my laziness. _A fake apology of course. How dare she interrupt my slumber?!_

"I didn't knock for too long so I guess I can forgive you." _I want to kill this bitch right now..._

"May I?" I asked whilst extending a hand towards her luggage.

"Sure." she replied... with a voice that seemed slightly familiar to my ears. I proceeded to pick up her luggage and place it in the boot of the taxi whilst she took her seat inside the taxi. A certain sticker on one of her luggage caught my eye. _Pan-san? What the hell is wrong with her?! How old is she?!_

I locked the boot and headed towards my seat. It had been quite a while since she knocked and we hadn't even seen each other's faces yet.

Anyways I started the car and drove it slowly out of the airport and asked "Where to?" to which she gave me a certain address which seemed to be in a very rich area. There was no conversation for majority of the ride. To my surprise, she was the one to eventually break the silence.

"Will you be able to pick me up again at... lets say 2 PM?"

"From...?"

"From where you're dropping me off now."

"Where to?"

"The audition centre for Japan's got talent. My friend is participating in it."

"2 PM... I guess that's fine." _my shift ends at 3 PM so you're in luck..._

"Thank you so much."

There wasn't a single noise in the car since.

Eventually we reached our destination at approximately 7:30 AM. It wasn't just a large house. It was a complete mansion. It is every man's dream to live in such a place therefore I couldn't help but space out for a moment. I looked around until a certain sign captured my sight. The sign with a writing big and bold and in gold saying 'YUKINOSHITA'. I turned around to open the passenger door. As soon as I did so, the woman's gaze looked up at me and the expression on it changed from tired to surprised. And frankly, so did mine...

Because this wasn't any woman...

"Yu-kino-shita?"

"Hi-ki-gaya-kun?"

"Yu-ki-noshita Yuki-no?"

"Hiki-gaya Hachi-man?"

The awkwardness of the situation was getting to my nerves. It reminded me of a certain moment in the school infirmary about 7 years ago. If my memory serves right, it was on the day of the marathon.

The moment also allowed me to see the change in Yukinoshita's appearance over the last 6 years. She has grown slightly taller. Her hair looks longer than it was 6 years ago. And *cough* *cough* seems to have grown too. She's dressed elegantly and with wealthy clothing. Overall, she has gone from being a pretty girl into a beautiful woman.

Thankfully, some whispers in the background ruined the moment and abolished the awkwardness. From what I could make out, the first voice seemed to belong to some security guard or servant.

"Umm... Yukino-sama." However it also seemed like he wasn't allowed to say any further because of the other voice...

"Shuuush! Don't interrupt! Yukino-chan and Hikigaya-kun are having a moment here..." I don't think there's any point in me trying to guess who that was.

Myself and Yukinoshita turned around to the source of these voices, which thankfully broke the annoyingly long stare.

"Yahallo, Hikigaya-kun! Long time no see." exclaimed Yukinoshita Haruno.

"Yo"

"Taxi driver, eh?"

"Part-time."

"Come in. I'll get the papers ready."

"Papers?"

"For the marriage of course."

"Who's marriage?"

"Your's and Yukino-chan's obviously!"

"HAH!?" screamed myself and Yukinoshita in unison.

"Just kidding! It's funny to see both of you blushing so much." _W_ _ho said I'm blushing? No no no... I'm definitely... not blushing!_

"Yukino-sama, your luggage..." said the servant. I proceeded to open the boot of the car for the servant to collect the luggage and take it inside the mansion.

And then there was the painful bit. Getting paid by Yukinoshita. I was having none of it.

"There's really no need. After all you're an old acquaintance so I'm willing to do this much for free."

"Hikigaya-kun, your boss will not be pleased to hear it if he or she finds out that you refused your HEFTY payment." _Hefty? Bitch, please..._

"I really have no time to waste. I'll take your money after I drop you off at the audition centre." _No I'm not..._

"I guess that's fine." replied Yukinoshita which allowed me to turn around and make my way towards the car. Suddenly my mind went on a rewind to the conversation that took place between me and Yukinoshita when we were in the car.

 _"Will you be able to pick me up again at... lets say 2 PM?"_

 _"From...?"_

 _"From where you're dropping me off now."_

 _"Where to?"_

 _"The audition centre for Japan's got talent. My friend is participating in it."_

Again.

 _"Where to?"_

 _"The audition centre for Japan's got talent. My friend is participating in it."_

And again.

 _"_ _My friend is participating in it."_

One more time... in slow motion.

 _"_ _My FFFRRRIIIEEENNNDDD is participating in it."_ Yukinoshita's friend... it can only be...

I quickly turned around towards Yukinoshita and began.

"Just wondering. The friend that's participating in the show, is it-"

"That's right." she intervened. I stood in silence, already aware of the answer. "It's Yuigahama-san."

* * *

2 PM. Outside the mansion. The excitement of seeing Yukinoshita again after 6 years had barely settled in and now, we were going to see Yuigahama as well. I can't help but wonder... _what talent does she have?_

"Ara, nice and early I see..." said Yukinoshita, walking towards the car.

"Oi... you seem quite dull."

"It's a thing called jet lag."

"Stop treating me like Yuigahama."

"It really can't be helped... now lets get going shall we?"

I opened the back door for her to step in after which I took my own seat, fastened the seat belt, and started the engine. This time I didn't expect the conversation to be all so boring. Because I... yes I... shall start it.

"Umm... Yukinoshita. Why take a taxi when you could've easily been driven by your drivers?"

"The driver's not well today. He took the day off."

"I see..."

"And besides, as much as I will hate myself for admitting it, your driving is better."

"I don't know if it is better but I can assure you that I won't be in a situation where my driving will put the life of a dog and a human in danger..."

"Wow you still remember that?" _what?! she doesn't?!_

"Anyways we should get going... my shift ends at 3."

"Why are you telling me? I'm not driving the car am I? Stop asking such stupid questions."

"Do you want to be driven or not?"

"Apologies. I take my words back."

"That's what I thought." and so we kept conversing for the rest of the journey. We talked about the last 6 years of our lives, our academic achievements... though Yukinoshita had way more of those than myself. And eventually...

"Okay we're here."

"Thank you for the ride. Here's your-"

"Not taking it. After I drop the two of you off to wherever you'll be going..."

"But doesn't you shift end at 3?"

"But that doesn't mean I don't have my own car." That's right. The blackmail that my dad used against me. _"Listen Hachiman... if you don't agree to this job then I guess I'll just not pay for your car."_

"Oh my! You've exceeded all expectations Hikigaya-kun." said Yukinoshita with a smile. _What were your expectations?_

"Anyways, what time shall I be here?"

"About 5 PM would be fine."

"OK"

"Goodbye, Hikigaya-kun."

"See you later." _did I just... have a friendly conversation..._

I drove off and made my way towards the taxi station where I handed the taxi over to the next driver. There was a mini-farewell for everyone who had their last day of work. It most certainly didn't offend me when it took them ages to find out that it was my last day as well. _I'm being serious here... it didn't offend me..._

Anyways, I took a train back home where my car was waiting for me. It was nothing special. It was an Audi A3. A new one costs around 2.5 million yen however my dad expertly bought this second-hand one for 800,000. I've driven it for about two months and it still works fine. Stats are not the best but I don't really need anything too extravagant. It does 0-60 in about 11 seconds. Top speed of about 116 mph. I'll even admit it. I love this car. The only thing that can get annoying is when I have to drive Komachi to her date in this car. _Outrageous!_

I went inside the house, greeted my parents and Komachi, and then set off. It didn't take me too long before I reached the audition centre. In fact, I was way too early to reach the audition centre. It was still 4! With an hour in hand, I parked my car and went inside a cafeteria. I ordered the usual MAX COFFEE and some snacks. There was a large TV inside which was showing the auditions live.

The performance that was taking place were these three girls singing. Luckily, Yuigahama wasn't one of them as the performance was downright atrocious. There were three judges. The first one was rather kind.

"I'm sorry girls but that wasn't good enough. You can tell by the reaction of the audience that your performance just wasn't what we're looking for." _This guy's being way too nice. That performance was complete bullshit and all you say is 'not good enough'? I'm sorry but your judging skills are not genuine enough..._

The next one was even kinder.

"Hi girls! All of you are looking gorgeous!" _Oh shut the duck up!_ "However the singing was... rubbish to be honest with you... I'm sorry..." _The word 'rubbish' is a good start but what's with all the apologising... the singing was shit! Deal with it!_

And then there was the third judge.

"Right... do you want me to be honest with you?" **[3]**

"Yes" the 3 girls replied... however with a worried expression. _Why say 'yes' if you're scared as shit?!_

"One day... I sat down on three cats by mistake. What they sounded like at that moment is what you three sound like when you sing." _Brutal._ The whole arena and myself seemed to approve his statement however I'm not quite so sure that a certain member of the audience by the name Yukinoshita Yukino would approve sitting down on cats. On the other hand, the judge wasn't done.

"I mean... seriously? What made you audition for this competition?"

"We've always wanted to sing as a job. It's our dream..."

"Okay here's the thing. After your performance, I actually WANT you to have singing as a job... as long as it's in a pet hospital where you'd sing to make sure all the cats fall asleep." _Triple kill! Sit down! Get lost!_

The last comment was greeted with a roar of laughter in the arena as the girls leave the stage with tears running down their faces. Meanwhile, the next performer walks in. _Is that..._

"Hi! How are you?" the 2nd judge asks.

"I'm good thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Yuigahama Yui" _HAH?! That's... Yuigahama..._

I moved in closer to the TV to see how her appearance had changed over the years. She had also grown slightly taller. Her hair looked very much the same to me with her trademark Chinese bun at the top. She looked more grown up. Instead of just being cute and bubbly, she looked cute and beautiful at the same time. And obviously the *cough* *cough* were- _stop it Hachiman! Grow up!_

Eventually my thoughts were interrupted with the voice of Yuigahama's singing. Once she started singing... I forgot where I was, I forgot who I was, I forgot why I was here but most importantly, I even forgot I had a can of MAX COFFEE to finish. All I could do is listen to her sing.

"Somebody said you got a new friend... **[4]**  
And does she love you better than I can...  
There's a big black sky over my town...  
I know where you're at, I bet she's around..."

Yuigahama looked very focused and determined in her performance. On top of that, her singing was brilliant.

"I'm in the corner, watching you kiss her, ohh...  
I'm right over here, why can't you see me, ohh...  
I'm giving it my all, but I'm not the girl you're taking home, ooo...  
I keep dancing on my own."

Somewhere deep within, my inner Hikki sheds a noble tear at her performance. **[5]**

"So far away, but still so near...  
The lights go on, the music dies...  
But you don't see me, standing here...  
I just came, to say goodbye..."

Okay there's no way she's not going through to the main competition.

Eventually her performance ends. The whole arena seemed to have stood up in ovation. Even the judges. And thankfully, even the third one. Once everyone settled down, the first judge spoke up.

"What a performance that was! I mean seriously your voice is brilliant, everything about that was brilliant. This is exactly what we're looking for in this show." _obsessed with the requirements of the show..._

"Thank you so much." replied Yuigahama.

Then the second judge voiced her opinion.

"I totally agree. The performance was truly mind-blowing. And it helps that you're good looking too. I'm being serious here... you can become the next superstar of Japan." _obsessed with appearance..._

"Thank you so much."

And then the third judge...

"They've already said what needs to be said. Your performance was utterly special. You sang it in such a manner that gave me the impression that this wasn't just a girl singing in an audition. I got the impression that you're singing what you're feeling. I got the impression that instead of it being just a song, you're conveying the lyrics. What I mean is that it seems like you're the girl who loves a guy, but no matter how hard you try, you keep losing to some other girl, and so you keep 'dancing on your own' if you get what I mean."

"Thank you... so much." says Yuigahama whilst breaking down into tears. _Come on his comment wasn't THAT emotional..._

"Now we're gonna vote." states the first judge. "It's a yes from me."

"Without a doubt, a 100% yes from me." states the second judge.

"Yuigahama Yui..." starts the third judge. "You've got 3 yesses and you're COMING TO TOKYO!"

The whole crowd roar in applause as Yuigahama exits the stage.

Meanwhile, I sat back down on my seat to finish what remained of my snacks. As the clock hit 5, I left and made my way towards my car.

Realising that there's no way that Yukinoshita will be able to recognise my car, I instead took a detour and walked towards the exit gate where Yukinoshita stood waiting for Yuigahama. I approached her to inform her about my car.

"Oi..."

"HAAH?!"

"Calm down it's just me."

"Oh... Hikigaya-kun... it seems like I need to get used to those creepy eyes again." _shut the duck up..._

"Anyways... you see that white Audi A3... that's mine. I'm gonna wait inside so take Yuigahama and come there."

"Ara... nice car... how much?"

"800,000"

"Interesting... well my Mercedes Benz E-class cost about-"

"Shut up I never asked."

Yukinoshita stood there having a giggle. _So rude..._

Anyways, I decided to wait no further and made my way towards the car. And so the wait began...

* * *

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

I looked back to see the pair standing outside the back door of the car. Yukinoshita looked in to make sure she got the right car whereas Yuigahama kept talking to Yukinoshita hence there was no eye-contact made. They entered the car once I opened the door with my electronically super-power remote exclusive to my car- _who am I kidding..._

"Yukinon, you've gone like super pretty I wonder how you do it..."

"Well thank you Yuigahama-san. Although I must say that your appearance is very much worthy of compliments too."

"THANK YOU YUKINON..." said Yuigahama as she embraced Yukinoshita in a tight hug. _I don't like where this is going..._

"Yuigahama-san... that's enough."

"I was wondering... isn't your car supposed to be a like a Merkedes or something? Take no offence but this car isn't that good." _Excuse me..._

"Yuigahama-san... I think you mean to say Mercedes."

"OOOH yes that's what I meant..." _and here I thought that she changed..._

"Anyways, Yukinon, have you seen Hikki recently? Wouldn't it be great if we were to reunite?" _wow she actually remembers me... I feel kinda relieved..._

"I wonder if Hikki is still Hikki... I mean... I wonder if he still has that gross laugh..." _heh?!_

"I wonder if Hikki still has that rotten look..." _wait a minute..._

"I wonder..." _okay she stopped..._

"You wonder?" asked Yukinoshita.

"You know Yukinon... I've missed the two of you a lot... ever since you moved to France and Hikki moved to a place closer to his university."

"It's fine Yuigahama-san... I've also... missed you a lot." _never knew Yukinoshita had the word 'consoling' in her dictionary..._

"I wonder if Hikki still remembers us." _okay now seems like a good time to interrupt..._

"And I wonder... who's... lo-" **[6]**

"Excuse me who are we talking about here?"

"HIKKI!"

"Yo... Yuigahama"

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ _ **Here it is... my second fanfiction. Some of you might already know that I'm also the author of the story Whatever happened after. What I've learned from that fic is that I must have a good start so I tried to make the first chapter of this fic as interesting and entertaining as possible for you guys. Hopefully you liked it and if you did, please check out my other fic as well. I know the start of that isn't great but I hope the other chapters and future chapters make up for it as much as possible. As for this one, I hope you can forgive me if it seems a bit OOC as this is 7 years later after all. I originally planned on making this story a tragedy however I don't think a tragic end would suit this kind of start so this is going to be a calm and hopefully entertaining story. As for the tragic end, I plan on making a separate fic for that but not anytime soon as I already have 2 fics to work on.**_

 _ **References:**_

 _ **[1] Just wanted to put it out there that I don't know if radio Japan exists and if it does... I don't know if it has the '5 news at 5 AM' thing so apologies if that seemed too inaccurate.**_

 _ **[2] The first 3 news items are actually true events that happened in the real world. News 4 is complete bullshit whereas news 5... I don't know too much about when auditions start and if people start queuing at 5 AM and all that so again... forgive me if it seems too inaccurate.**_

 _ **[3] Reference to the judging methods of the famous/infamous Simon Cowell... I'm sure most of you know who he is...**_

 _ **[4] The song 'Dancing on my own' by Robyn. If you want to listen to it, I recommend listening to the Calum Scott version.**_

 _ **[5] Reference to a review by a guest on the chapter 1 of Whatever happened after.**_

 ** _[6] Along with the title... reference to the song 'Who's loving you' by Jackson 5. In this case, it would probably be something like 'who's loving him' but that's not the name of the song so yeah..._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- That's what I thought...**

"Oi, Yuigahama, why are you crying?"

"It's just that... I've dreamed so much about this reunion... so... much..."

Eventually the combined efforts of mine and Yukinoshita helped Yuigahama stop crying and become normal again. A bit too... normal...

"Hikki your car is like super good... it has got so much space and everything..." _I'm pretty sure you were the one who said "oh this car isn't that good" to Yukinoshita._

Anyways, there has always been one way to deal with an annoying Yuigahama. A very easy way in this circumstance.

"Oh that's right. This is an Audi A3. Bought second-hand for 800,000 yen. Does 0-60 in about 11 seconds. Top speed of about 116 mph. Has a torque of about 340 Nm."

"Toruk Makto?" **[1]**

"Torque"

"Pork?"

"Forget it." _Mission d_ _ealing with annoying Yuigahama Yui- successful._

"Anyways." I continued. "Where to?"

"Take us to the nearest bar. Assuming that all of you have had alcohol in your life." said Yukinoshita.

"Oi oi, why am I part of this plan?" _seriously though... why?_

"Hikki don't be stupid. You know yourself that you're coming as well." There are certain insults that exist on planet Earth. First, there are the 12 year-old 'I ducked your mum' insults. Then there are the repetitive use of singular words such as 'gross', 'disgusting', etc. insults. Then there are the serious insults meant for attacking emotionally. Something that Yukinoshita is good at. And then, beyond the realms of things known to the human race, is the 'being called stupid by Yuigahama' insult.

"SHUT UP! WHO YOU CALLING STUPID?!"

"STUUUUPID HIKKI!"

"Umm... I would appreciate it if you would stop this argument and take us to our destination." said Yukinoshita.

"Are you sure... about a bar?" I replied.

"Yeah yeah why not? Hikki... perhaps you haven't..."

"... been to a bar _before?"_ Yukinoshita completed Yuigahama's statement.

"Umm... umm... no... not since that one time in high school."

"Hikki... you're such a kid."

"First of all, I had to work very hard academically so I didn't have time for all this. And secondly, WHO THE DUCK ARE YOU CALLING A KID?!"

"Hikigaya-kun, calm down. You're being very loud. And yes... you're a kid." _I will fight you right now..._

"Do you want to be driven or not?"

"Apologies. I take my words back."

"That's what I thought..." heh... _this is too easy..._

"Hikki..."

"What?" _oh shit..._

"Can we please... go to the bar? It'll be fun..." _N_ _ot the puppy dog eyes... begone, demon! BEGOOONE!_

"It's... fine... I guess... I mean... I've got the degree now so I guess I can... go... to a bar."

"ALRIGHT THEN! LET'S GOOO!" _too loud... Yuigahama..._

I turned the engine on, and so we were off. This is probably the most amount of girls under the age of 45 I've had in my car at once. I've driven Komachi and mother at the same time however my mother isn't under the age of 45. On the other hand, there was also once that Hiratsuka-sensei and this other girl were in my car. Hiratsuka-sensei is definitely over the age of 45... definitely... _oh wait she's not..._ The other girl's name... _what was it again? Come on I'm supposed to remember she was in my class back in high school!_ I guess then the most amount of girls under the age of 44? _Wait how old is Hiratsuka-sensei? Wait... she's 37..._

Why did I have to drive them? Hiratsuka-sensei wanted to go out to buy her wedding dress... yes... she got married... finally... and she already has a kid. And because she found out that I had recently got a new car, she politely asked me(which in her world means punching only once) to drive her to the shop. However she also insisted that this other girl previously from my class should come along as well as she apparently is skilled when it comes to clothing. _Seriously... I should remember her name by now..._

"Hikki, what do you keep in this section?"

"DO NOT TOUCH THAT!"

"Yuigahama-san, open it... right now."

"NOOOOOOO"

"Hikigaya-kun, eyes on the road."

"Let's see what we have here..." Yuigahama started. "Hmmm..." _nooooo..._

"Yukinon... look..."

"Hmmm..." _now she's just gonna make an insult..._

"Hikigaya-kun, do you ever think you'll need these in life?"

"SHUT UP! It's better to be safe than to be sorry. I don't want to be a father already..."

"Hikigaya-kun, it's funny the way a virgin like you can even talk about being a father. Forget storing protection in the back of your car." _I really don't like this woman..._

"Trust me, if I try extra hard, I actually can get girls. And it's not as if you're dating too many men are you?"

"If only I had the list of all the men that nee-san made me date. Even in France, from soccer players to sons of influential families to singers. None of them lasted more than one date." _she's gotta be exaggerating..._

"What about you, Yuigahama?" I asked.

"Umm... I have dated a few men but none of them... I truly fell in love with..." _okay why you getting emotional?_

"Hikigaya-kun... I bet you have dated almost every woman in the world..." _I'm so close to driving my car off a cliff just to kill this woman..._

"Say, Hikki... have you actually never been on a date?"

"I wouldn't call it a date..."

"So what was it?"

"I'd call it a day out with a female friend who had no other friends just like me. So basically we felt sorry for each other and decided to spend time together. Only for friendship purposes..."

"What was her name, Hikki?"

"Her name... her... name..." _oh wait it's the same girl who's name I don't know..._

"The only time you ever come close to getting a friend, you forget her name. I don't know what to call this disorder." said Yukinoshita. _She does have a point though..._

* * *

"Hikki, there's a bar right there..."

"Alright then." and so I parked the car and the three of us walked inside.

"I'll have a Fuzzy Navel." said Yukinoshita. _What the hell even is that?_

"I'll have juniper juice." said Yuigahama. _I think I might know what that is..._

"What about you, sir?" the bartender asked. _Sir? Someone actually called me "sir"? What did I even do in my life to deserve that much respect?_

"Hikigaya-kun, he's waiting."

"Umm... I'll have... chocolate ice-cream."

"Hikki... this is a bar. Not an ice-cream van." _I really wish it was... wait how old am I?_

"Oh... sorry... I'll have gin and tonic." and so the bartender got to preparing the drinks.

"Umm... you guys don't have to order such cheap drinks." Yukinoshita started. "I'll pay for your drinks for today. It's on me." _Wait, what?_

"For real, Yukinon? Thank you so much!"

On the other hand, I wasn't feeling so comfortable trusting Yukinoshita to pay for my drinks. However, she's grown up. She wouldn't play those childish tricks again, would she?

"Thanks..."

"Don't... worry about it..." For some reason I still felt skeptical about this. However, that didn't stop me from having the free drinks. I don't know but I think I might... have had too many... without even knowing what they were...

 **Yukino POV**

Okay... Hikigaya-kun looks completely gone. This is a good time to introduce my plan to Yuigahama-san.

"Yuigahama-san"

"Yes?"

"You see this man right here?"

"Yeah that's Hikki..."

"Just wait and watch."

"What are you gonna do, Yukinon?"

"I said... just wait... and watch..."

"O-okay..."

"Hikigaya-kun..."

"Whaaaaaaaaat?" he replied.

"You see that woman down there..." I pointed at a woman sitting alone, some distance away.

"Oh... her?"

"Yes her. People say that she is an expert when it comes to discussing about the negatives of youth. I really think you should go and speak to her. It seems like a common interest to me."

"Okaaaayyy!" _that was easy._

Hikigaya-kun got up and made his way towards that woman.

"Yuigahama-san..."

"Yup... I'm recording this."

He sat down on the seat next to her and began. "Youth is a lie. It is evil." *facepalm*

"PHWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yuigahama-san couldn't control her laughter and-

"HA...HAHAHA!" neither could I...

"What are you talking about?" the woman asked.

I quickly went up to Hikigaya-kun and dragged him away for a moment.

"Hikigaya-kun, try using a pick-up line..."

"Seriously? You can pick something up with a line?"

"Idiot. I meant say something cheesy and something funny and something that would make her feel special. Even I know what it means."

"Got it, Yukino-sama!" _is he trying to be my servant now?_

Nevertheless, he returns to the woman and without hesitation puts his imagination to work.

"My YOUTH has only had the 'T' and the 'H'. All it needs to be complete... is 'YOU'." _oh... my..._

"I'm sorry but it's disgusting. Please stop talking." the woman replied. _Very good reply... very good reply..._

"It's a shame Hikigaya-kun. Now let's go back."

"Alright."

We walked back to where we were sat down and Yuigahama-san was trying her hardest to control her laughter.

 **Yui POV**

 _Phfffffffff... phwahahahaahahahaa... haaaahaaaahahaaa... my stomach's gonna burst... heheehheeheehehee... I can't take this anymore..._

"Ahem... Yuigahama-san..." said Yukinon whilst making eye contact with my phone.

"Yep. Every single second. Right in here."

"Good." _I'm sorry Hikki... heheehe..._

"Yukinon, it's late. I think we should leave."

"If you look at the specimen next to me you'd be able to realise that he won't be able to drive any of us anywhere."

"So what do we do, Yukinon?"

"Hmmm... we could just drop Hikigaya-kun at a nearby hotel and leave but I haven't got that much money on me."

"Umm... we could make him sleep in his car then leave."

"Good idea but if he doesn't sleep too good before he wakes up then he might get up and start driving whilst he still wouldn't be fully recovered."

"So we must prevent him from driving."

"Well duh..."

"We can have someone sleep on the driver's seat whilst Hikki sleeps on the back seat. In that way he can't drive even when he wakes up."

"I have to admit. You've gone smarter Yuigahama-san. But the question is... who is going to be that person?" _S_ _hall I do it? I don't mind but people might think of it in the wrong way..._

"Yuigahama-san, after all these years don't tell me you're still prioritising other people's thinking over your own..."

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Make sure to inform your mother."

"Alright."

"In that case, I'll be off."

"Okay. Yukinon, give me your phone number."

"Oh, right... here..."

"It's so crazy... this reunion went more right than I expected. I..."

"Yuigahama-san, please don't start crying again."

"Sorry sorry..."

"I'm feeling very sleeeepy." said Hikki. "Very... very... very..." _W_ _ait a minute! He's asleep! How am I supposed to carry him all the way to his car?_

"Hikigaya-kun, wake up!"

"Nobody knows... the trouble I've seen..." sang Hikki in his sleep. _What did Yukinon make him drink?_

"Hikigaya-kun..."

"Nobody knows... my sorrow..." **[2]**

"HIKKI!" I shouted in attempt to wake him up.

"WHAT?!"

"You're awake now." responded Yukinon.

"Shall I go back to sleep?"

"No"

"But I'm feeling sleeeeeee-"

"Yuigahama-san, we have to carry him to the car. Right now."

"Alright"

We got Hikki to stand up and we supported him as he walked towards his car. I took the keys out of his wallet and opened the doors after which myself and Yukinon placed him on the back seat. It took no time before he fell sound asleep.

"Yuigahama-san, I'll be taking my leave then."

"Thanks for the help and... thanks... for coming back."

"Yuigahama-san, would you kindly refrain from emotionally breaking down so frequently..."

"Sorry..."

"Huh? You understood everything I just said?"

"Yup" _no I didn't..._

"Yuigahama-san, I must admit I'm surprised at your increased intellectualism." _inte-what?_

"So am I." _Dumb people tips- if you don't know what the other person is sharing an opinion on, it's best to just agree with it._

"See you later, Yuigahama-san."

"See you later, Yukinon." and so, Yukinon turned around and walked away.

On the other hand, Hikki was still deep in his sleep. I entered the car silently and locked all doors from the inside. Firstly, I called mama to tell her that I'll be returning tomorrow. Secondly, I took Hikki's phone out of his pocket and took his number down as well... _without permission... hehe..._

Nevertheless, I sat back, relaxed and went into my deep thoughts...

 _I've passed the auditions. That means I'll be going to Tokyo. I must try my hardest to win this competition. It's been my dream ever since high school to be recognised as a singer as my academics weren't all so great. However, if I do too well in the competition, I might never return to Chiba. I might end up working with famous celebrities and for that I must stay in Tokyo as the opportunities here won't be as great. In that case... once again... I'll leave Hikki and Yukinon... and who knows... they've graduated so they might find jobs and move elsewhere and... I'll be alone again..._

Hikki seemed to look disturbed in his sleep. He wasn't sleeping all so soundly anymore. I took my jacket off and placed it on top of him so that he feels warm. I reached my arm out towards his hair and began stroking it, with one song coming at the top of my head for me to sing...

"You and I are alone again... hello... hello... alone..." **[3]**

* * *

 **Hachiman POV**

Next morning. I woke up and stretched my arms... or at least I tried to.

"Oi... where am I?"

At this point I was scared... for my life. I was convinced that I had been kidnapped until I saw...

"Yuigahama?!"

She was sleeping at the driver's seat. _Wait does she even have a license?_

With no response, I moved in closer to her to see if she's still alive. _What even happened yesterday? Did Yukinoshita get kidnapped and in an attempt to save her Yuigahama got killed?_

The sound of her breath relieved me of that thought. She was sound asleep. _But wait... where are we?_

I put on the jacket that was on top of me, thinking it was mine as I exited the car to investigate the surroundings. We were exactly where I last parked the car. _So why the hell didn't I drive back? Okay maybe because I was drunk... but I'm quite confident that I didn't do anything crazy so it's fine..._

I saw a little shop that was selling some snacks. I quickly went there and bought enough for myself and Yuigahama. _Wait a minute, everything else aside... why is she in my car?_

After the purchase, I walked back towards the car where...

"Hikki! Where's Hikki? Excuse me... have you seen a man with dark blue hair and eyes like a dead-fish." _Excuse me..._ "I knew I shouldn't have dozed off. HIKKI! WHERE ARE YOU? CAN YOU HEAR ME? PLEASE... IT'S YUI..."

"Oi..."

"Hikki!"

"What on Earth are you doing? And it's cold... where's your jacket?"

She instantly looked away with a flustered expression. _Wait, what's going on?_

I looked down at what I was wearing and...

"OIIIII... I'm sorry Yuigahama. It was on top of me so I assumed it was mine. I sincerely apologise... here..." I said as I took off the jacket and handed to Yuigahama who put it on instantly. _Wait a minute... why was this jacket on top of me?_

Realising that my mind had too many questions about last night that I wanted an answer to, I decided instead that it would be best to return home and freshen up first. Therefore myself and Yuigahama consumed the snacks and then we were off.

First, I dropped Yuigahama off at a house that she said her family moved into 4 years ago. It was big, but nowhere near as big as Yukinoshita's house.

Finally, I drove back towards home where everyone was... let's say unhappy.

"Onii-chan, what were you doing yesterday all night?"

"Umm..."

"Hachiman, are you not aware that criminals will target you as you have a car." That's probably the 88th time my mother said that to me ever since I got the car.

"Anyways..." _Dad to the rescue..._ "Hachiman... I'd be pissed at you for how irresponsible you've been by not informing us about your actions... however a certain letter has compensated to say the least."

"Huh?"

"Here" said dad as he handed me a letter. The contents of the letter...

 _"Dear Mr Hikigaya Hachiman,_

 _We have reviewed your university achievements and would like to invite you to the Yoshitori novel editing company here in Tokyo. The agenda would be to introduce you to our working schemes and environment and provide you with a chance to display your skills for our company. If we are satisfied with your efforts, we may offer you a job and living facilities here in Tokyo. Details of your visit will be discussed once we receive your agreement._

 _Eager to receive your response,  
Yoshitori Yoshi, CEO of Yoshitori corporations."_

"Dad..."

"Very proud of you son. I know... it hasn't been very long since you've returned from your university, however it's time for you to get a job. Yes... I'll admit that I would've preferred if you got a job nearby here in Chiba. However I don't want me, or your mother, or even Komachi to stand in your path to your dreams. You'll go to Tokyo, and you'll make me proud. Get that job, settle down, have a family, and live your life." _wow that was emotional..._

"Dream? I wanna be a house husb-"

"Hachiman... this is serious..."

"I get it... yes... I'll go."

"Onii-chan..."

"What?"

"I'm... gonna miss you..." Her voice began to crack and eventually...

"Oi oi Komachi... don't cry like that..."

"Idiot onii-chan... I bet that scored me a lot of Komachi points." and so she started crying again.

"Komachi... listen... you're 22 and have a bright future ahead of you. You're lucky that your university is nearby unlike me. Look at your life. One day, you'll have the choice to chase your dreams. And you'll achieve those dreams. I'm certain of that. I'm 22 years certain of that... plus the 9 months as well."

"Onii-chan... you sound so stupid..."

"Idiot Komachi... I bet that scored me a lot of Hachiman points."

In the midst of all the giggles, one certain thought struck me... after all these years... I'll have to say goodbye to Yukinoshita and Yuigahama... again. I don't know why I feel so sad about it. I mean... they were just acquaintances right? No... they were... not just mere acquaintances... at least not for me. It's taken me 6 years to admit it but... they mean something special to me. Because of them... the service club... I started valuing myself more, I started understanding more, I... started to become a better person. A part of me knows that what I am today is mainly because of them. And I must let them go... again.

* * *

 **Yukino POV**

The next morning I woke up nice and early and made my way to the breakfast table.

"Good morning, Yukino-chan!"

"Good morning, nee-san."

"Sit... there's some exciting news for you to know."

"What is it?"

"There's no hurry... sit down."

I saw down at the table where a servant brought me a plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon strips, baked beans, slices of bread along with some vegetables.

"Full English?" I asked.

"Yes madam" the servant replied.

"So..." I turned my attention back towards nee-san. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"There is a big meeting in Tokyo that involves representatives from influential families across the country. We have been invited to the party as you may have guessed by now. Father is really ill and mother wants to stay with him so I want you to go instead."

"Why not you?"

"Because it would be good work experience for you. I'm more directly involved in the family matters than you are so I guess you should find a job yourself... don't you think going to Tokyo would be a perfect opportunity for you to find a prestigious job and settle down? After all, our parents becoming old and I'm engaged, it's time for you to start your own independent life."

"I understand."

"Good. I'll inform mother and father about this."

Somewhere deep within, a part of me felt like I'm going to lose a large chunk of my happiness if I move to Tokyo. It was a feeling similar to what I felt on the plane to France 6 years ago. But in this case, it's way more serious. That's because... I might never return from Tokyo. _Why can't I admit it for once? That Yukinoshita Yukino considers Yuigahama Yui and Hikigaya Hachiman as... special._ The cruel reality of life always brings me back. Life tells me that these two people are nothing but part of my youth that's over. But my life is wrong... as I expected.

* * *

 **Hachiman POV**

After a lengthy shower, I grabbed my phone and lied on what was my bed for about 18 years of my life. I swiped from one screen to the next as I was adamant that there would be no incoming notifications.

*Vibration*

The notification came from fanfiction. _Just when I thought I had friends..._

 _"FanFiction  
Review: Growth_

 _A new review has been posted to your story.  
_ _Somewhere in my mind felt like this reminded me The End of Affair fanfic... and I just can't get out of it"_

That's a shame because I wanted my story to be more of a relaxed and positive story instead of the really deep and serious story like The End of the affair. Not saying that End of affair was a bad story... it's way better than mine but I just want to clear any misunderstandings that I intend to make my story too similar to that. Hopefully the reviewer can see a difference in future chapters. **[4]**

*Vibration* _What now? A follower?_

It wasn't... in fact... it was...

 _"Yahallo!"_ a text from a random number. That person had added my number and some other number into a group chat and called it 'srvic club'. _Yuigahama... but how did she get my number?_ To be honest the group name sounded more like cervix club than service club and I don't intend to join any cervix club even if Hiratsuka-sensei held me at gunpoint. But before I changed the group name, I had to confirm their identity first. However someone else beat me to it.

 _"I'm sorry but may you please confirm your identity."_

 _"it's Yui!"_

 _"I sincerely apologise however I'll require further evidence of verification."_

 _"Wtf"_

 _"Excuse me..."_

 _"My dog's name is Sable."_

 _"Not enough."_

 _"You're Yukinon and the other ones Hikki..."_

 _"You've passed." wait what?_

As obvious it seemed but... I had Yukinoshita's number for the first time in 7 years. I saved both numbers under the respective owners.

Me: _"Oi Yuigahama... how'd you get my number?"_

Yuigahama: _"I took it last night."_

Me: _"What exactly happened last night?"_

Yuigahama: _"I explain evrythin... can we 3 meet up again? :)"_

* * *

And so, for the second consecutive day, I met up with the pair.

"Yahallo!"

"Yo"

"Good afternoon"

The sudden meeting would also give me a chance to inform them about my future plans. As much as it would break me to do so. The quicker I tell them, the easier it would be for me deal with the pain. But first, we had to hear what Yuigahama had to say.

"Umm..." _maybe not..._

"What is it Yuigahama-san?" asked Yukinoshita.

"Umm..."

"In that case I'll say what I had to say first." _Yukinoshita had something to say as well?_

"Okay, Yukinon."

"Umm..." _what the duck is going on..._

"If the two of you are hesitating then I'll go first." I decided to not waste time and say the serious news first. The other two would probably have some cheerful news that would make me feel better after I say mine.

"Go on, Hikki..."

"Umm..." _wait what..._

"I guess we have no other choice than to... write it down on paper." said Yukinoshita as she took out a piece of paper and ripped it into 3 parts.

I was surprised at how long it took the other 2 to write their things down as I believed that mine would certainly require the most thought and emotion.

"Lift it over your head in 3... 2... 1..." started Yuigahama.

"Wait a minute... do we have to lift it over our heads? Isn't that a bit stupid?" I interrupted.

"Hikigaya-kun... just do as told. My patience isn't holding up too well." replied Yukinoshita.

"Shut up! You're in my mercy so you really need to stop being rude."

"At your mercy?"

"Well yes... because of me you can avoid your family's shitty driver."

"Hikigaya-kun... YOU"RE in my mercy... so YOU really need to stop being rude."

"How?"

"Yuigahama-san, would you kindly show this human being a video clip that was recorded on your phone last night..."

"Alright..." replied Yuigahama as she took her phone out of her pocket and played a certain video.

 _"My YOUTH has only had the 'T' and the 'H'. All it needs to be complete is 'YOU'."_

"No..." I stuttered.

"So... Hikigaya-kun... may I also remind you that Yuigahama-san is very popular on social media especially since her performance at the auditions."

"Delete it Yuigahama... please..."

"Yuigahama-san, if you are to delete that video, consider us not friends anymore."

"I WON'T DELETE IT, YUKINON!" _nooooo..._

"So... Hiki-slave-kun... who's at who's mercy?" _I shall have my revenge..._

"I'm... at your mercy..." I replied as I lifted my piece of paper over my head.

"That's what I thought..." said Yukinoshita with a smile as herself and Yuigahama also lifted their pieces of paper over their heads.

And so, there we were... silently reading...

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _ **Right... firstly I would obviously like to thank all the favourites, follows and reviews for both stories as normal. As mentioned in the chapter 6 of my other fic, this story seems to be doing better than that one. Therefore, I intend to spend more time on this one than the other one. However by no means am I going to neglect the other fic completely. Chapter 7 will be out soon. It's just that I won't be able to guarantee you that the updates would be as frequent as they were. Also, just to make it clear... I'm still very grateful for the amount of follows and favourites I've got one my other fic. And to everyone who liked my other fic, I promise you that I will complete it and I would try my hardest to make it as good as possible. As for this one, chapter 1 went down better than I had expected. Hopefully this chapter didn't bore you as I think it MIGHT especially after the good(I think) chapter 1. Nevertheless, few random things I feel like saying... Batman VS Superman coming out tomorrow! 2 weeks of holiday starts from today! Finished Erased... great anime.**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] _Just a creature from the movie 'Avatar'._**

 **[2] _Sheldon Cooper. That's all I'm gonna say. If you get it then great. If you don't get it then just think of it as a depressing song._**

 **[3] _JUST IN CASE YOU'RE UNAWARE... which I'm sure most of you aren't... that's the ending song in season 1 of Oregairu._**

 **[4] _vietan10he's review... I didn't take it in a bad way it's just that I thought I might use that in the story. And yes... the way Hachiman responded is exactly my response to your review._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Plans**

"Oi... Yukinoshita you're going to Tokyo?"

"Yuigahama-san... you're plans exist in Tokyo as well?"

"Hikki... you'll be going Tokyo too?"

"Yes"

"Yes"

"Yes"

I didn't know how to react. All the despair I held was taken away instantly. I was going Tokyo, but I wasn't going alone.

"Ha... haha...hahahaha..." Yuigahama reacted.

"I... can't believe it..." said Yukinoshita. Meanwhile, I had nothing to say...

"Yukinon, where in Tokyo will you be living?"

"There's an apartment that my sister has booked."

"What about you, Hikki?"

"They said they'll provide me with living facilities once I agree to go there."

"Yuigahama-san, you need not worry about your living facilities if that's what your questioning is about. My apartment is big, I'll have no problems in having you live there temporarily."

"AH YUKINON! THANK YOUUU!" screamed Yuigahama as she jumped onto Yukinoshita.

"Yuigahama-san... too close. I only said temporarily."

Then suddenly a distant voice called out to us. A voice that was a bit too familiar to my ears.

"Ah onii-chan... what are you do- wait a minute... is that Yui-san and Yukino-san?!" said the voice of my little sister who walked towards us with bags full of shopping.

"Komachi-chan! Long time, no see." said Yuigahama.

"Yui-san, you look gorgeous and obviously Yukino-san as always." _Shots fired at Yuigahama for not ALWAYS being gorgeous... according to Komachi._

"Komachi-san, it's astonishing to witness how you've grown up." replied Yukinoshita

"Thanks Yukino-san, now that we have the time, look what I've bought today..." _Here we ducking go..._

Just when Komachi finished going through the contents of one bag and looked as if she's about to leave...

"Komachi-chan, what do you have in that bag?" _Oh piss off..._

After ages of going through all her bloody shopping, she announces her departure. But not before announcing something else.

"Yui-san, Yukino-san, I've invited a friend and his older sister for dinner..." _His... Komachi has a male friend?_ "Would you two like to come as well?"

"Umm... I don't know if that would be alright..." stated Yukinoshita.

"It's gonna be fine. After all, being friends with my useless onii-chan for so long... you should at least meet his parents." _Useless? Who was the one crying for this "useless onii-chan" then?_

In response, both Yukinoshita and Yuigahama turned 180 degrees in unison and started murmuring inaudible things to themselves. And then... in 3... 2... 1... 180 degrees again.

"Alright... we accept your invitation." said Yukinoshita on behalf of herself and Yuigahama.

"ALRIGHT THEN... be at our house by 6. Bye-bye" said Komachi as she left the scene. After a few short discussions related to our future in Tokyo, the three of us returned to out respective homes to prepare for the evening.

* * *

Roughly 6 PM.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Komachi sprinted down the stairs to greet the guests.

"Welcome" she said just as she opened the door. The two people standing outside were Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.

"Yahallo, Komachi-chan."

"Good evening, Komachi-san." the pair said as they walked into the house.

"Good evening! Ah you must be friends of my daughter Komachi..." said my mother walking towards the entrance.

"Not really mother... they are onii-chan's friends more than mine."

"Hachiman's? He doesn't even know how to spell friends..." _Excuse me... I do know how to spell frinds- I mean friends..._

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Hikigaya." said Yuigahama and Yukinoshita in unison as they bow their heads to my mother.

"Nice to meet you too. Please come in." replied my mother.

The two of them walked into the living room where they met my dad.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Hikigaya."

"AH, welcome, welcome. Please have a seat." replied my dad after which Yukinoshita and Yuigahama sat down on a sofa.

"What's your name, young lady?" Dad asked Yuigahama.

"My name is Yuigahama Yui."

"That's right! I just remembered! You're the one at the Japan's got talent auditions. I'll have to admit that your singing was fantastic. Who knows... we might have a future celebrity sitting here in our midst."

"Thank you so much." replied Yuigahama nervously.

"And... you? What's your name?" Dad asked turning his attention towards Yukinoshita.

"My name is Yukinoshita Yukino."

Pin-drop silence. Dad almost dropped his cup of tea and mother almost spilled soup all over the floor.

"Yukinoshita... huh?" Dad stuttered.

"So... shall we go to my room now? There's a lot of things I want to show to you two." said Komachi in attempt to break the tension.

"That would be a good idea." said mother. "You can explore the house whilst the food is being prepared."

Yuigahama and Yukinoshita stood up, bowed their heads, and followed Komachi upstairs to her room. Meanwhile I was still downstairs as I had no involvement in what Komachi had to do with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama.

"Hachiman..." dad spoke up. "You should've told me before if we were having VIPs coming over."

"All that aside..." mother interrupted. "The way the pink-haired girl looks at you..."

"How does she look at me?" I replied.

"I can't really tell you though..."

"So why bring it up?"

"Never-"

"Why keep him guessing?" dad intervened. "I'll just give you a clue... it's the same way your mother used to look at me back in high school..." _The only way dad can give clues... relate to his high school life..._

"Seriously mom? How much did you hate him?"

"Hachiman... where are your brain cells?" _I can't even describe mom's ways of giving clues. Anyways... here she goes..._

"In my brain."

"Where is your brain?"

"In my head?"

"Where is your head?"

"In my body."

"Where is your body?"

"In this house."

"Where is this house?"

"In Chiba."

"Where is Chiba?"

"In Japan."

"Where is Japan?"

"In Asia."

"Where is Asia?"

"In Earth."

"Where is Earth?"

"In the solar system."

"Where is the solar system?"

"In the Universe."

"That's right... it's a universal language." _Someone kill me right now..._

"Why didn't you just say that then?"

"Because... this is not the only part of the clue." _I actually can't be asked..._

"Okay then... how might that be the case?" _At this point I don't even know where this conversation began..._

"The universal language... is what you have to guess... but as I said it's not the only part of the clue. The solar system wouldn't be recognised if there wasn't Earth, even if it still existed. Take the 'r' away from 'solar' you get 'sola' which in Spanish means alone. Rearrange 'Earth' and you get the word 'heart'. Therefore, giving the lonely a heart is giving solar system the Earth. Giving the lonely support. After all, solitude is a pillar that starts crumbling down once there is love. **[1]** That's the second part of the clue. As for the third part... well, let me put it this way. Your brain cells are so much aware of what is going on in your brain, head, and body that it doesn't really have to find anything out. As for this house, as long as you are a normal resident in the house, you'll be aware of almost everything that transpires within this house. As for Chiba, as an adult, you'll know all the important things. Similarly for Japan, you'll know probably 90% of everything that's important. Then slightly less for Asia and then even more less for the Earth. Then comes the solar system and the universe. You'll only find out if anything absolutely revolutionary happens there. So there are your three parts of the clue: universal language, support... and importance."

"Okay that's enough. If you're implying that Yuigahama has feelings for me then you're likely to be horribly mistaken."

"Nope. She loves you."

"If she LOVES me, then why would someone as popular and beautiful like her have the fear of rejection from me."

"You just need to re-emphasize that sentence. She loves YOU."

"Non-sense. Sorry to be rude but such ideas of 'love in the eyes' is only a form of deception and illusion that might have been true back when you and dad were in high school. But it's a much more complicated world today than you think it is."

"That's why I said... it is... and always will be... a universal language."

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

As I was the closest to the door, I approached and opened it myself. In fact, I was actually quite eager to see who this male friend of Komachi is.

"Welcome" _oh shit..._

"Hikigaya?"

"Onii-san, you're back from university..."

Dealing with awkward moment tip 1: If half-unaware of a name of someone who's name you really should be knowing, try saying the bits of the name you do know and pretend as if the result is a nickname you created whilst being truly aware of their full name. When in truth, you have no idea what their full name is. I tried putting that to work...

"Kawaii..." _Wh_ _at did I just say?_

"EH? Oh... thank... you..." she replied whilst looking away from me. On the other hand...

"Onii-san, do you remember me?"

Dealing with awkward moments tip 2: If you're unaware of the name of some donkey-face who's been potentially going out with your younger sister, it's best to just give him the middle finger and threaten him that he better avoida kadavra your sister otherwise he'll get reductoed to his toes until he is nothing but a petty Pettigrew. However, this method isn't advised when the donkey-face has a Sirius black-lace sister who can beat the shit out of you and give you severe-us snaps in your body. **[2]** In that case...

"Sorry... don't remember you..."

"Come on... onii-san, remember 7 years ago? Saki nee-san's request?" _I'm so tempted to remove his tongue from his mouth so that the word 'onii-san' doesn't come from his mouth ever again..._

However, I instead decided to take his comment in a positive and helpful way. _So her name is Saki... that's right! Kawasaki Saki!_

"Oh... please come in. I guess my sister invited you to come."

"That's right." donkey-face replied. "We're sort of here to do some hardcore revision you see..." _Hardcore you say... your 'revision' better not be the 'hardcore' that springs to mind._

The two enter as Komachi sprints downstairs to greet her 'friend'. _You see... I can spell it..._

"Taishi! You're here!" said Komachi. _So the name's Taishi..._

In that case, I must perform certain actions to that wretched name. If 'Earth' rearranges to make 'heart' then 'Taishi' rearranges to make 'Shit-ia'. _Welcome... Shitia-kun..._

On the other hand, there was his older sister of course. The only 'friend' I've had in the post-Totsuka era. _How I miss that face of Totsuka..._

Once they greeted my parents, all of us went upstairs. Everyone was located in Komachi's room to begin where she kept talking about shopping and random things that myself and quite obviously Shitia didn't give a shit about. But then...

"Saki-san, Yui-san, Yukino-san... why don't you go with onii-chan to his room? Me and Taishi need to revise for our upcoming assignments." said Komachi. This was greeted with satisfied agreements by Yuigahama and Yukinoshita. On the other hand, Kawasaki had a look of curiosity whilst I couldn't control my frustration.

As soon as we were dismissed, Komachi closed the door of her room because she wanted 'silence'. I was having none of it. I navigated the other three to my room and left them there with the excuse of 'I need to use the toilet'.

And so... my ears were stuck to the door that separated me from what transpired between my sister and a donkey-face.

"Komachi-san, how did you write that much? I only wrote 3 pages and you wrote like 5." _Everything's fine..._

"Oh... that's nothing. Anyways, show me your work. I'll evaluate it for you." _Everything's fine..._

"Oh wait, I'll show you something else first." _Everything's fine..._

"Oooh Taishi, this is so fat... I can't even hold it properly. How do you carry this everyday?" _Everything's- wait, what?_

"OI!" I screamed as I dashed into the room, only to find Komachi holding a big textbook. "I mean, oi to the mosquito that threatened to intrude your precious revision time."

"There's mosquitoes?! Where?" asked Komachi in a loud voice.

"It's fine. I've taken care of these unforgivable trespassers." I replied.

"Thanks a lot, onii-chan!" _You're most welcome my dear sister..._

"Thanks, onii-san!" _You shut the duck up!_

I closed the door but remained on guard.

"Taishi, you broke it." _What did he break?_

"Oh... my bad."

"Here you go..." _What did she just give him?_

"Ahh! Thanks!"

"Taishi, you're not even putting it in properly..."

"OI!" This time, what I saw was a pencil in Shitia's hand. Fortunately for him, it was a real pencil rather than a metaphorical one. He was trying to put it inside a real sharpener... not a metaphorical one.

"What happened this time, onii-chan?"

"Oh... this time it was the disturbing presence of a wasp that I had to inform you about."

"WHAT?! A WASP?!" screamed Komachi in fear.

"Don't worry about it... for it was just a mere illusion that my eyes experienced. Don't worry about it."

"Oh... that's fine then. Bye onii-chan."

"Bye" I said as I once again left and closed the door. I began losing my patience.

"Taishi, I heard your friend's uncle has got a sweet shop."

"That's right, I get free sweets almost every day. Actually, wanna try some?"

"Sure."

"Here you go..."

"Seriously that big?! How's that supposed to fit in my mouth?!" _Calm down... it's just a sweet..._

"Try putting it in..." _Getting on my nerves now..._

Komachi's voice sounded muffled as if she had put something large in her mouth.

"Mmmm... I think... it's in... mmm..." _Calm down Hachiman! Calm down!_

"What's the point in you just keeping it in your mouth? Try moving it around and biting it, Komachi-san." _Grrrrrrr..._

"Uuugghhhh... I'm... trying..."

"Komachi-san, you can spit it out if you can't swallow it."

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" I barged in once more. Komachi had a lollipop inside her mouth but I've had enough. "Komachi, I'll send the other three here so you can revise with them. YOU my friend... are revising with me."

And so, I strictly put my statement to work. Shitia was now in my room, away from my sister. As much as I didn't want to, I took responsibility for his revision. In truth, I didn't.

"Onii-san, can you help me with this question please?"

"Figure it out yourself."

"Please..." _It better not be complicated..._

"What is it?" I ever-so politely asked as I approached him. I glanced at one of his books which had a picture of underwater plants.

"Say... what do you wanna become?" I asked Shitia.

"A marine biologist."

"Ahh... study marine plants and animals right?"

"Yeah..."

"Like ducks and stuff..."

"Seriously, onii-san? No one gives a duck about ducks." _Quack quack_

"So what? Sharks?"

"Exactly."

"Kawasaki junior... as much as I myself love sharks, I wouldn't recommend a job related with sharks. Imagine going out to the sea almost every day and swimming with sharks who may or may not digest you."

"That's exactly the reason why. I want my life to be a thrill and excitement." He turned his face towards me and continued. "Not some useless house-husband."

"Oi... how did you know?"

"Saki nee-san told me. She talks a lot about you."

"Oh..."

"Something wrong?"

"Nope. Nothing. Just contemplating on how the embarrassments could actually be way worse than this."

"What else did you tell Saki nee-san?"

"Not her. Something else..."

"What is it?"

"Nothing. Carry on learning about the sharks."

"Tell me onii-san, you can trust me..." _Seriously? Which Hikigaya are you after?_

"Stop it. Just learn."

"I won't do anything unless you tell me whatever it is that's bothering you."

"Fine. Don't. Doesn't affect me in any way."

"Pleeeeeaaaase..."

"What is wrong with you? Behave yourself."

Shitia turned back around towards his book and carried on with his studies. _Good boy..._

"Onii-san... I know what happened. There's no point hiding it from me anymore."

"Have you seen it?"

"Every single second of it."

"How?"

"Komachi-san showed it to me."

"Komachi? I see... they shared it with her. I can't believe it."

"I'd say... I'd be pretty embarrassed if I was in your place."

"Listen to me. I was so many bottles down that I was completely unaware of what I was doing. It was all Yukinoshita's fault. And Yuigahama's for recording it obviously."

"But still Onii-san... others who watch it wouldn't know that."

"That's exactly why I don't want anyone else to watch it."

"Now that you know I've watched it, you might as well give a detailed explanation for your actions."

"Okay... we first went into a bar after the two begged me to take them there. Yukinoshita offered to pay for all our drinks so I gladly accepted her offer after which I got a bit too drunk. So drunk that Yukinoshita manipulated my actions. Well... at least that's what I think happened before I obviously went on to do what I did. I can't believe she made me chat up a woman." Shitia started laughing hard once he heard what I said. _He's already watched the video so why is he laughing?_

"So now you're scared that they will upload it on social media or something?" he asked.

"It's not that. Firstly, Yukinoshita doesn't have access to social media. Yuigahama does. However, think about what would happen if she were to upload it. She has a large amount of followers especially after her auditions. If she uploads it, a large amount of people would find out that she went drinking after her auditions which could ruin her positive reputation once the media gets involved. Besides, as much as Yuigahama and Yukinoshita might hate me, they wouldn't go that far."

"So what are you scared of?"

"The only reason that I'm scared is that I don't want Yukinoshita Haruno to see it at all costs. You have no idea the things she might do and say. If she's already seen it then I'm ducked. I might as well be quacking right now."

"Do they know that showing the video to her is what you're scared about?"

"I'm not sure. That's why I pretended to be scared of them uploading it on social media."

Meanwhile, Komachi opened the door to say something.

"Food is ready. Be at the table as soon as possible."

"Komachi!" I called out right as she was about to leave. "What is wrong with you? Why would you show the video to this guy? And if Yuigahama shared it with you then you should tell me first."

"What are you talking about, onii-chan?"

"The video..."

"What video?" _Wait a minute..._

"Oi... Kawasaki junior, didn't you tell me that she showed it to you?"

"Umm..."

"What's going on?" asked Komachi.

"She didn't show me the video actually." said Shitia.

"Then how did you know?" I asked back.

"I didn't. You just told me everything yourself." _This little piece of shit..._ _w_ _ell done Shitia... you played yourself._

"Onii-chan, hurry up... food is ready." _You stay out of this one... Komachi._

"Coming..."

Eventually, everyone was sat at the table, ready for dinner. It didn't take mother too long to serve us food.

"Thank you for the food!" we all said in unison right before digging in. This was followed by the usual male and female dinner conversations.

"So... Taishi-kun, I heard from Komachi you have interest in marine biology." said my dad as he patted Shitia's back.

"Y-Yes... s-sir. That's very much true." _It's almost like he's being interviewed for the role of son-in-law. Shitia... you shall not pass!_

"So what in marine biology are you focusing on now?"

"T-Tonic immobility in sharks."

"Ahh... is that the one related with the killer whale and great white shark incident?" **[3]**

"Y-Yes sir that's right."

On the other hand...

"Mrs Hikigaya, it's interesting to see how this roast beef can taste that good given the amount of time you had to prepare this. So what do you do to it?" asked Yukinoshita.

My mother gave her a complicated reply that I refuse to indulge my brain into. At the other end of the conversation were Yuigahama and Kawasaki. Kawasaki... who can only cook plain and easy stuff. _Rice kitties- I mean crispies._ And Yuigahama on the other hand... who... let's say SHOULDN'T cook. _Wait a minute... I've never asked this to myself but... has she improved?_

The food was delicious but what was more impressive was that mother was able to prepare so much for everyone when she wasn't fully aware that Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were coming as well.

"Excuse me... can I know where the toilet is?" asked Shitia.

"Right this way..." replied Komachi as she proceeded to lead him upstairs to the male toilet. Well... at least she tried to...

"It's fine I'll take him." I interjected. _Where the duck do you think you're going Shitia?_

There are 2 toilets in the house. One that Komachi and my mother use. And the other dad and I use. Strictly no male shall go to the female toilet was the rule Komachi came up with. No one really argued. Tonight... Shitia shall create history.

Right as we reached the toilet, I put my plan to work.

"Let me go first... it'll be quick." I said.

"That's fine by me." he replied. "Please be quick. I'm having troubles holding it in." _Oh boy you are in for a crazy motherducking experience..._

I entered the toilet and locked the door from the inside.

2 minutes later...

"Onii-san you said you'll be quick. I'm kinda desperate so can you please hurry up..."

"Yeah just give me a minute."

3 minutes later...

"Onii-san please... hurry up!"

"Yeah just one more minute I promise."

5 minutes later...

"Onii-saaaan... this is killing me now...

"Might need one more minute."

8 minutes later...

"ONII-SAAAAAN!"

"Hmmm... don't know why but I think I might need one more minute."

10 minutes later...

"OOOONIIIIIII-SAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" I think he might be crying right now.

"Yeah okay I'm almost done. Say... do you need to Taishi or do you need to UN?"

"AAAAAAHHHHH... WHAT THE DUCK DO YOU MEAN BY TAISHI?"

"Taishi as in Shitia... as in shit."

"YES YES I REEAAALLY NEED TO TAISHI!"

"Don't answer the question already. Do you even know what UN means?"

"HUURRYYY UP! I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHAT UN MEANS. WHATEVER IT IS I BET IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH UNITED NATIONS AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"You were close. It means Uri Nation. Piss in simple words."

"PISS OFF JUST LET ME GOOOO!"

"You do realise there's another toilet you could just ask to use that. In fact, just barge in... no one's gonna say anything."

"SHOULD'VE TOLD ME BEFORE THEEEEEN!" he screamed one last time as I heard rapid footsteps moving away from the toilet. _Shitia... you were a valiant soldier... but duck you..._

Soon I left the toilet to investigate what had happened to Shitia. It turns out that after a minute of embarrassing arguments with Komachi, our mother allowed him to use the other toilet. _Well done Shitia... you've created history._

I proceeded to return to my room since I've successfully dealt with that peasant. However, there were two women already in there. The most amount of women under the age of- _OKAY let's not get into that topic again..._

"Oi... Yukinoshita, Yuigahama, what are you doing in my room? And why are you using my computer?"

"Ah... Hikki... the thing is..."

"We're making plans for our trip." Yukinoshita interjected.

"What trip?" I asked.

"It was Yuigahama-san's idea that before we move to Tokyo, we should go on a road trip."

"A road trip?"

"You heard me right."

"Where?"

"All around Japan before we reach Tokyo."

"And where will we be staying?"

"In hotels of course. We'll be making bookings anytime soon."

"What are you doing right now?"

"Looking at places to visit and finding places to stay in."

"Wait... are we 100% serious about this?"

"I don't see why not."

"Wow..."

"Hikki stop spacing out and come help us then..." said Yuigahama.

"Wait a minute... why can't we just take some guided tours instead of a road trip?" I asked.

"That's because... you know... road trips are more fun." replied Yuigahama.

"Well that's because you're not the ones driving all the time." _The population of the entire planet would be in danger if Yuigahama was to ever drive a car._

"But still... it'll be fun..."

"Okay whatever..." I reluctantly agreed as I approached the computer myself to see what was going on.

In the meantime, there was a sudden click on the door. The person responsible entered the room and stood before us.

"Yo... Kawasaki... what's up?" I asked.

"I... have a request."

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ _ **We've hit 50 followers! Yay! Thank you for all the support as always. Anyways, tell me if you like the idea of a road trip or not. Also, tell me if you want someone else to go with them to the trip or not. As for this chapter, I know there isn't a massive development when it comes to the 3 main characters but I hope you could sense the start of what is about to happen with the road trip and etc...**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] _Reference to the lyrics of 'Everyday world'- the ending song of oregairu season 2 as many of you know._**

 **[2] _Reference to the story 'Harry Potter'. Again... many of you already know but I'll still put it out there for the ones that don't. 'Avoida kadavra' refers to the magic spell 'Avada kadavra'. 'Reductoed' refers to the spell 'Reducto'. 'Petty Pettigrew' refers to the character 'Peter Pettigrew' who was once thought to be killed so badly that only one finger of was found... referring to 'toes' obviously. 'Sirius black-lace' refers to the character 'Sirius Black' and obviously that combined with Saki's 'black-lace'. 'Severe-us snaps' refers to the character 'Severus Snape'._**

 **[3] _True incident where a killer whale expertly hunted arguably the most dangerous shark on the planet i.e. The Great White Shark. It hunted the shark using the idea of tonic immobility. I'm not gonna go in too much detail as I'm sure no one really gives a duck... quack quack._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Above all other 'man'**

Bullying is one of the most trickiest things to deal with in society. In my theory, the word 'bullying' was probably created by a Spanish guy who was on his deathbed after he so stupidly attempted the 'running away from bulls' sport. He probably made a last wish that the world shall remember how the bulls 'bull-ied' him and so wished for the creation of the word 'bullying'. Taking my theory further, this guy is probably responsible for another word. Lets say... the guy survives and reunites with his wife. He gets a certain feeling once he returns home with his wife. Considering his memorable(or rather traumatic) experience with horns, he decided to name that feeling as being 'horn-y'. If my theory is true, we'll never know. Just ask the Spanish. That will probably be the most discussed topic in Spain after Barcelona VS Real Madrid. **[1]** Anyways... getting slightly off-topic. So yeah... bull-ying( _actually that could be Chinese_ ) is one of the most trickiest things to deal with in society. Not the hardest. But the trickiest. That's because the conventions of society keeps changing at a quick rate. This causes the conventions of bullying to fluctuate as well. High school lifestyle isn't the same today as it was 6-7 years ago. The change that can occur in that short amount of time is what causes bullying to be such a tricky matter to deal with. Think about it. An individual goes to a high school, studies the concept of bullying, and understands pretty much everything about it. By the time that individual is old enough to actually go around preaching about bullying and giving professional advice, society has changed massively so the advice given would be no use to the new society as the individual's advice is based on observations from what society was like quite a few years ago. The only way to effectively deal with bullying is if someone who currently goes to a high school to step forward and give SECRET advice. There is an emphasis on the word 'secret' because if the person goes on to upload a video on YouTube on how to deal with bullying, then the society creates an immunity to that advice very quickly and so the advice doesn't work too well. It's a bit lke 'Netflix and chill'. It actually used to work before it became a thing. _Not saying from personal experience of course._ What does go wrong with a high school kid giving advice in secret is that the ones listening to his advice would think of him as someone who is arrogant and as someone who is trying to show his/her superiority. Meanwhile, the teachers are probably the worst when it comes to dealing with bullying. What they do is waste 15 minutes of everyone's time showing them a video about someone fictional who committed suicide because of how badly they were getting bullied. If the purpose was to respect all victims of bullying then that is fine. However, if the purpose is to try and stop bullying then they need to go duck themselves with a duck. At the age of high school, people are fully aware of the consequences of bullying. They don't need to get spoon-fed by all the 70 year-old teachers who are as likely to understand bullying as a shark is to do the Gangnam style whilst criticising Gordon Ramsay's cooking by saying that Yuigahama Yui can cook better. **[2]** Therefore, bullying is... and always will be... a tricky thing to deal with. Don't know what it's like for a 11 year-old though...

"So your younger sister Keika is getting bullied..." stated Yukinoshita.

"That's right." replied Kawasaki. "I don't know how long it has been going on for but I want to stop it before it gets too serious."

"Have you spoken to her teachers yet?" I asked.

"Yes but they have been anything but helpful."

"Right..."

"We accept your request." spoke Yukinoshita. "We'll meet with her tomorrow if possible." All this time Yukinoshita had a broad smile across her face.

"Th-thank you." responded Kawasaki as she looked down at the ground, unaware of how else to respond.

"Guys... it's kinda getting late so I think we should leave. Don't you think?" said Yuigahama.

"Uh... yeah..." murmured Kawasaki. The three of them left my room whilst I followed. All four guests greeted me and my family goodbye as they parted towards their respective homes.

And so... the service club keeps getting requests.

* * *

The next morning. Another day where I can't indulge in my beloved hobby... sleep all day. Thanks to Kawasaki's request. That too involving an 11 year-old. This is where my mind goes on a little flashback. Tsurumi Rumi. The girl who got bullied because of negligence. This is what gave me a clearer yet hazy idea on what society is truly like for 11 year-olds. They don't fall victims to cyber bullying as they are unlikely to have access to any cell phones or social media. Even if they do have access to such mediums of communication, their parents will almost be in complete control of what they are doing with it. The kids don't fall victims to physical bullying as at the age of 11, barely anyone is prepared to get involved in a serious physical brawl as they are too afraid of the teachers. Even if anyone does attack physically, they are not too likely to be very popular themselves as an individual develops a likelihood towards violence at a much older age therefore no one really appreciates violence under the age of roughly 13-14. Once someone reaches the age of 18-19, maturity kicks in and the rate of violence falls back down again. Anyways, if there is a physical brawl between two unpopular 11 year-olds then it isn't exactly bullying. That leaves us with two methods of bullying: Verbal bullying and negligence. This makes dealing with a case of bullying of an 11 year-old a fairly less tricky job to perform.

Komachi had left the house early to attend some lectures. Dad and mother had left for work. Leaving the entire house for me.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

I opened the door to see the presence of Kawasaki Saki, alongside her sister Kawasaki Keika. It was intriguing to see how she has gone from a little chocolate-making-eel-loving girl to someone who looks depressed with her life. And it just doesn't seem to suit her.

"Come in. I'll ask Yuigahama and Yukinoshita to come straight away."

"Sorry for the intrusion." said Kawasaki whilst looking at her sister, expecting her to say the same before they enter. Instead, Keika just looked straight up at me and said...

"Haa-chan?"

"Wait a minute... how do you remember me?"

"Saki nee-san always talks about you." _Wait a minute... so 'Saa-chan' has changed into 'Saki nee-san' but 'Haa-chan' doesn't change? Unfair..._

Meanwhile, Kawasaki's cheeks turned red whilst she avoided making eye-contact with me. "K-K-Kei-chan... don't say th-things like that..."

I opened the door wider to allow both of them to enter and take a seat at the couch.

"Any of you want anything to eat?" I asked in attempt to show my politeness but also to see how Keika reacts. _If she says eel again..._

"No, thank you." both replied in unison.

"Okay then... make yourself comfortable. I'll text the other two to come over."

I grabbed my phone and began texting my fellow club-mates. _Or should I say ex club-mates..._

Meanwhile, Keika kept whispering things in Kawasaki's ears. Probably asking her why she's here.

To my luck, Yuigahama arrives first as she will take no time to eliminate all awkwardness.

"Yahallo! Hikki, Saki, and..."

"Kawasaki Keika."

"Keika! Nice to meet you. I'm Yuigahama Yui."

"Nice to meet you too." responded Keika in a dull voice.

I pulled Yuigahama aside to speak to her. "Oi... don't put up this fake cheerfulness before a serious discussion."

"O-Okay..."

"Anyways, where is Yukinoshita?"

"Oh... I don't know."

Sigh. "We don't have the whole day. We'll start now then she can join in later."

"A-Alright. Umm... Hikki... do you mind letting go of my sweater?"

"Oh... oh... s-sorry I didn't n-notice."

We walked towards where the Kawasakis were sat and sat down on the couch opposite to them.

"Right... let's begin."

"What is Haa-chan talking about?"

"Keika..." I began. "Is there anything that is troubling you? Anything?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You're getting bullied at school, aren't you?"

"Who... told you that?"

I turned my head towards Kawasaki which presumably gave Keika her answer.

"Don't worry, Keika-chan. We're here to help you." said Yuigahama.

"But why?"

"We are the service club. This is what we do." Yuigahama's comment forced a smile onto my face. _'What we do'? It's more like what I do. Yukinoshita's taking all the time in the world. And the only thing Yuigahama will say is 'Don't worry Keika-chan..._ _just believe in yourself and you shall overcome the bullies one day.' That does sound more like what Zaimokuza would say except that his vocabulary for 'bullies' would be different and he will be swinging his fists like a windmill..._

Again... Keika looked over to her older sister and kept whispering things in her ear.

"Kei-chan! Don't do that! Whispering things in in front of other people is rude. Never do that again." Kawasaki smiled nervously as she was telling her sister off. _There is something going on..._

"It's fine. She must be nervous meeting new people." Yuigahama responded. _It's just... a bit strange._

"Excuse me." Kawasaki gets up and moves away with her sister where they had a conversation inaudible to our ears.

"Hikki... what is going on?"

"I actually don't know. Anyways, I think we should give Yukinoshita a call."

"Yeah... why not. I think you should call her."

"But I haven't really got her phone numb-" _Oh wait I do..._

I grabbed my phone and gave Yukinoshita's phone a call. _I shouldn't be feeling so nervous..._

"Hello..."

"Umm... Yukinoshita?"

"What is it? And don't speak too much I'm watching a movie."

"Movie?"

"Yeah... is there a problem?"

"Weren't we supposed to help Kawasaki with her request?"

"Oh... it seems like I wasn't aware it was going to be so early. Anyways, I won't be leaving anytime soon because the movie has just started."

"Seriously? What movie are you watching? Kung fu Pan-san?" **[3]**

"Yep."

"Oh the new one? But isn't it coming out tomorrow?"

"That's exactly why I'm watching the prequel again."

"No no no. Come here right now. I thought you're at the cinema. Didn't know you were at home watching fat Chinese pandas eating dumplings."

"Excuse me? 'Fat Chinese pandas eating dumplings'? They eat dumplings? Why did you have to spoil it for me?"

"It's not really a spoiler. Besides, you've already watched it."

"I know..."

"Okay please just come already."

"Nooooo. I'll watch the movie first."

"Why? Why are you so obsessed?"

"May I remind you that you have a sick obsession towards books that can annoy myself and Yuigahama-san in several occasions."

"But that's part of me. I need to read more books for my path in education."

"What about those unnecessary pictured books that you read which don't have any productive vocabulary?"

"You mean manga?"

"Whatever. You were reading those mangoes when you were in the car waiting for us outside the audition centre. What's it called? One Pan-chan?" _One punch man. She hasn't heard of 'One punch man'?! At least she could've heard of '8man VS One punch man: Dawn of just ice'. "Tell me... do you gain hair? You will."_ **[4]**

"How was that annoying you though?"

"It did. As Yukinoshita Yukino, it's annoying to have a chauffeur who reads childish comics." _Childish?_

"Then why don't you re-appoint that dog-munching driver?"

"Then why don't you re-watch a certain video clip in Yuigahama-san's cellular device?"

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With Yukinoshita ruthlessly attacking me, there was only one thing I could've done to calm her down. _Calm her down... CALM her down... CALM... CA... KA..._

"KAMAKURA! YOU LEGENDARY BEAST! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"Meow..." The noise came from none other than a Hikigaya legend. Kamakura himself. He probably had only about a couple of months or maybe a year to live. I can only wonder how Komachi will react. Anyways, he had a task to do.

I held the phone to his mouth, put the phone on loudspeaker and let him do the rest.

"Meowwwww" Kamakura began. Meanwhile I snatched the nearest phone. It was my dad's old phone that he barely used hence I felt safe enough. But to be honest, I couldn't care less. This... was... getting... recorded.

"Meoww" replied Yukinoshita. _Record every... single... second of this..._

"Meowww meowwwww maaooww" Kamakura's voice sounded serious for some reason. It was almost as if they were having a real conversation at this point. In fact, I felt like it would be a good idea to translate this within my head.

"Meoowwww" _"Kamakura darling. You're wrong! I wouldn't do that to you!"_

"MEEEOWWW" _"_ _Bullshit! You were going after that catshark weren't you? You think I wouldn't find out? Your 'meow' don't sound like it used to."_

"Meeoww?" _"What do you mean?"_

"Meoww meeeeoww" _"Heh... what I mean is... you're 'meow' don't sound like it used to babe. You'd rather say 'shaa' won't you?"_

"Meeoww meow meeowwww" _"No! It's a misunderstanding! Please... I'd do anything for you. We haven't spoken in ages. And I always thought that we'd drift apart. Please don't tell me..."_

"Meow... meowwoww" _"I'm sorry babe. But... we're over."_

"MEEOWWW" _"Please... give me one more chance!"_

"Meowwwww meow maaeeow" _"What can I say... I... found someone new."_

"MEEOOOOOOOOOOOOWW!" _"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

I stopped the recording and picked my phone to continue speaking to Yukinoshita.

"Oi Yukinoshita. You there?"

"Meeooowwww meeoww meeeeow" _"For duck's sake you piece of shit! Are you the one who took Kamakura darling away from me?! You'll pay for your sins..._

"Umm... Yukinoshita-san?"

"Huh? Wait you never heard me right?"

"No... certainly not. Anyways... you can speak to Kamakura as much as you like if you come here. Within 20 minutes."

She sighed and replied. "In that case, give the phone to Kawasaki-san for a second please." _'Please'? She said 'please'? Kamakura... what have you done to her?_

"Umm... okay then?" _Why would she want to speak to Kawasaki of all people before coming?_

I turned around towards the three guests. Yuigahama looked in awe as if I had just wasted 30 minutes of her life.

"Hikki... what took you so long? It's been 30 minutes since you started talking to Yukinon." _Oh shit..._

"Kawasaki. She wants to talk to you."

"Me?" asked Kawasaki.

"Who else is called 'Kawasaki' here?" Both Yuigahama and Kawasaki turned towards the little girl who was also present at the scene. "O-Oh... m-my bad. I meant Kawasaki Saki." _Did I just become Yuigahama stupid?_

Kawasaki hesitantly stood up and walked towards me. Her face was turning pink just as she held her hand out for the phone. The first thing she did after receiving it was to turn off the loudspeaker.

"H-Hello..." She carefully listened to what Yukinoshita had to say which quite obviously was inaudible to my ears. "No... I don't think so." she continued. "Yeah. That would be fine. But... how did you know?" The suspense was somehow getting to my nerves. "Yes... I know what I'll do." _'What I'll do'? About what?_

Kawasaki hung up and handed the phone back to me. She proceeded to head back towards her seat on the sofa whilst I followed.

"So... Kawasaki Keika." I began. I took a paper and pen to note things down about her scenario. "Roughly how many children are directly bullying you?"

"I'd say... maybe six or seven." replied Keika. It was strange... because anyone getting bullied don't reply in that way. However, I must remember that society changes quickly.

"Okay... which one of them did you interact with first? And how long ago was it?"

"Umm... there is one girl who I met with two years ago. She is one of the people who bully me." Again... it isn't a normal response. If you've known someone for two years, it's likely that they have already created their opinion about you. For someone to start bullying you after two years of knowing you doesn't seem very likely. In that case, has the bullying been going on for 2 years? But then... Kawasaki said that she wants to 'stop it before it gets too serious'. That means that nothing too serious has happened yet. If nothing serious has occurred for two years, then is it really that worrying? Is it worth all the drama of having three grown adults waste their time on this matter? _Or more like two grown adults whilst the third watches animated movies._ But then again... society changes.

"So... what's your favourite subject?"

"Dra- I mean history." _Drama, eh?_

"Anyways... back to the topic... are all the bullies female?"

"Yes."

"Umm..." Yuigahama spoke up. "Keika-chan, the thing is... whatever you do... whatever... don't give yourself up. You might feel tempted to sacrifice your personality and everything defining about you to be able to get everyone to like you. However, never give in to these desires. You'll lose who you are, as an individual. Of course you can change a few things here and there about yourself that you think isn't good but never... change your identity. Because all that's gonna happen is that you'll get trapped in this cruel social world of expectations, facades, and everything... that's not... genuine. All your bullies are female. Then maybe try showing who's the real female in the school. Reveal their cruelty. And no... not by telling the teachers. But by SHOWING it... to the society. That... maybe Hikki can help you with..." _Well done Yuigahama! Well done! Yet again... my inner Hikki sheds a noble tear. But how am I supposed to help? If there isn't anything to help?_

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

I stood up and made my way towards the door. As a human with hands, I opened the door with them, and welcomed the guest...

"Welcome... oh... you're early..." Yukinoshita stood at the door but... there was someone else with her. "Hiratsuka-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Hikigaya... it has been a long long time, hasn't it?"

The two women made their way inside and greeted everyone else. Whilst Hiratsuka-sensei was talking to Kawasaki about her sister, I approached Yukinoshita in private.

"Oi... Yukinoshita... why is she here? You think she can help with the situation?"

"Of course she can..."

"But how? According to my theory, Hiratsuka-sensei wouldn't be of much help in this situation. After all, she's just another 70- I mean 37 year-old teacher who would have a serious lack of knowledge on how to deal with bullying." But then... who knows what society is like for children as young as 11?

"Just wait..." As much as I did believe that Hiratsuka-sensei couldn't do shit about Keika's bullying. That is... only IF she is getting bullied. Whilst Hiratsuka-sensei interacted with them, Keika didn't show signs of annoyance. She didn't show signs that she didn't want sensei to be wasting her time whilst she is trying to get a solution to her getting bullied. Is this a change that is possible in society? Relaxed approach towards getting bullied but at the same time asking others for a solution? If this was a kid from back when I was 11, I would instantly call bullshit on everything she has said and done. She has shown indications that this isn't something she cares too deeply about. If this was a case beyond my understanding, then I believe it would be best to hand it over to Hiratsuka-sensei. If this was a case within my understanding, then again, it would be best to hand it over to sensei because my time is being wasted in a case where the victim isn't taking anything seriously.

"I understand." I murmured.

"Huh?" Yukinoshita seemed surprised but to be honest, I'm supposed to be the one who's surprised.

"But how did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That the girl's case isn't something we should solve."

"What are you talking about?"

"Wait... so why did you bring Hiratsuka-sensei?"

"Oh... I mean... yeah... from my conversation with Kawasaki-san it felt like you two weren't of much help."

"What? Seriously? What did you two even talk about?"

"None of your business..." _What the hell is going on?! I'm so confused!_

"In that case, would you tell me how you figured it out?"

"From the conversation with Kawasaki-san of course."

"I meant how did you figure out that we were being useless?"

"Isn't that just another way of asking what our conversation was about?"

"So tell me what the conversation was about."

"No."

"YUKINOOOOOOON!" shrieked Yuigahama, lunging herself onto Yukinoshita.

"H-Hello... Yuigahama-san... too close..."

"Anyways..." Yuigahama takes her hands off Yukinoshita and whispers. "I'm kinda confused. I have no idea what's going on. I was feeling so lost and uninvolved that I just said some random things that I don't even understand." _I TAKE MY TEARS BACK!_

"It's fine. I've got Hiratsuka-sensei to deal with it. We don't have time to waste. You two should get packing."

"Packing?" asked Yuigahama.

"Packing: The action of collecting and forming a group of certain things or items."

"I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! I'm just asking packing for what?"

"Oh I didn't tell you, did I? We're leaving in two days..."

"Leaving for what?"

"The road trip of course."

"OI!" I retorted. "In two days? I can't even pack my toothbrush in two days and you expect me to pack for my entire future in two days?"

"Any problem with that?"

"Of course I have a ducking problem!"

"Well... what can I say... I've already made the bookings for the first night. And playing with my bookings would be similar to playing with death."

"But why did you book it so early?"

"Considering when my meeting is scheduled, I can't afford to start the trip too late."

"But still..."

"But still what?"

"Cancel your bookings."

"Too late for that."

"Then forget it. I'm not going to the trip. I'd much rather take my time with my family and depart when I'm both mentally and emotionally ready."

"If that's the case then I'll inform you that I've taken permission from your parents and sister yesterday. They agreed to my proposal."

"In that case... then I'll leave the option to Yuigahama. If she thinks two days is enough for her then I'll come. If not then I won't."

"Yuigahama-san?" Yukinoshita turns her attention to the airhead.

"OF COURSE! OF COURSE! Two days is more than enough!" _I should've thought this one through..._

"Fine..." I responded.

"Excuse me but what are you three talking about?" interrupted the voice of Hiratsuka-sensei. Yuigahama proceeded to explain to her everything about our trip and our future.

"... and so we're leaving in two days." finished Yuigahama. Kawasaki was visibly surprised at her final sentence however she appeared calm all through the remainder of Yuigahama's speech.

"Regardless, let's get to the problem at hand that is Kawasaki-san's younger sister." began Yukinoshita. "I believe... with the amount of time we have at our hands, it'll be difficult to manage this request alongside our preparations. Besides, we seem to be struggling to solve the problem. Therefore, I want Hiratsuka-sensei to take over this request. Thank you very much."

"Wait a minute! I'm a teacher. I don't think I'll be able to-"

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I need to speak to you. In private. Along with Kawasaki-san and her younger sister." Yukinoshita cut her mid-sentence. Sensei and the two Kawasakis followed Yukinoshita out the door whilst myself and Yuigahama didn't move.

"Hikki... I'm confused."

"Believe me, if I had a clue then I would actually tell you."

Soon enough, Kawasaki and Yukinoshita walked back inside the house. Meanwhile, sensei and Keika were nowhere to be seen. Almost immediately, Kawasaki spoke up.

"Umm... sensei kinda wanted to talk to Kei-chan in private so the two of them left."

"Oh... okay then." I replied.

"Umm... there's actually another favour I wanted to ask you for."

"What is it?" questioned Yuigahama.

"The thing is... my brother is on the verge of getting his driving license. He's doing very well in his studies and everything. So as a gift, my parents and I want to buy him a car. It seems like you've got sufficient knowledge on cars. I wonder if you could come along and maybe recommend a few. Umm... it wouldn't take too long... I promise. You can return and start packing straightaway."

"Fine by me." I agreed to her request much to my own surprise. I did it mainly because I wanted to spend time with her as she was someone special to me. Not 'special' in a romantic way, but special as in... someone who is unique. Someone who I won't be able to replace when I move to Tokyo. Someone who was... a good friend. And one of the only ones I've had and ever will have.

"Huh? You... agreed..." Kawasaki appeared shocked after my smooth and positive response.

"Yeah why not? It's not that stressful of a job to go looking around for recommendable cars, is it?"

"If I may interrupt..." Yukinoshita spoke up. "I believe this is something myself and Yuigahama-san would have nothing to do about. Besides, we should get packing. Therefore we'll leave the request for you to solve alone, Hikigaya-kun."

"Huh? What's the harm in just coming along?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? We need to get packing."

"I agree with Yukinon." said Yuigahama. "There's not much we can say or do that would help with recommending a car."

"Oh... okay then..." I didn't argue back. It was true though... if Yuigahama was to ever study a car then she would simply confuse steering wheel as 'the round thing that drivers hold', torque as 'Toruk Makto', gearbox as 'the box that she can't see', brake horsepower as 'the power of a horse that can break a car', and chassis as 'wtf did you just say?'. In the end, she would only recommend some tiny cute-looking car which would be pink and would have white smallpox all over itself. Meanwhile all Yukinoshita would recommend is having Pan-san painted over it. _That's right Kamakura... she's cheating on you again..._

"In that case, we'll be leaving." announces Yukinoshita as herself and Yuigahama walked out the door after the farewells. This left myself and Kawasaki alone.

"Shall we?" I said, looking at Kawasaki who was looking down at the floor, embarrassed.

"Shall we 'what'?

"Go to the car showroom."

"Oh... yeah... the earlier the better." And so, the two of us departed after I left a note at my house informing my parents and Komachi about where I've gone... just in case they return before I do.

* * *

After an admittedly boring time recommending cars at the showroom, I proceeded to walk Kawasaki to her home. This was probably going to be the last time we get to properly see each other. It was strange because we weren't the closest of friends there could ever be. But then... we were what we were. Whatever I'd call this relationship, whatever she might call this relationship, it was another valuable thing I'd have to leave behind. I had to respect it. Make sure I feel satisfied by the way we depart. I had to speak to her. However, I wasn't the one who spoke up first...

"Hikigaya... are you happy going to Tokyo?"

"Well... I would say so. It definitely seems like where my future belongs."

"That's good to hear."

"Well... Kawasaki... what about you? What are your future plans?"

"Well... as of now I plan to try pursue a career of a fashion designer."

"Wow... well good luck to you."

"Thank you."

The 'Thank you' meant that the conversation ends. It meant awkward silence. However I didn't allow that to happen.

"So... do you think Keika's bullying is serious?"

"Well... not yet. And hopefully it never will be."

"Oh... yeah... hopefully." This wasn't going good. I didn't want to look back at the last conversation I had with her as an awkward and boring one. The only way I can start a long conversation at this point is by talking about something personal. I gathered all my guts and began. "Umm... well... are you dating someone right now?"

"HAH?" Kawasaki stopped as her cheeks turned bright red. "U-U-Ummmm... I-I-I d-don't know w-why you w-would ask me that."

"I don't mean it like that. I was just asking as friends. You know... how friends ask each other about these stuff..." _GAAAAAH! Why do I sound so weird?!_

"Well... umm... no... I'm not dating anyone. What about you?"

"ME? HA! As if..."

"You never know..."

"I actually do know... and the answer is NO..."

"Well... let's just say... you have a good friend. And right before you leave her forever, she confesses to you? What would you do?"

"In that case... let's think... it's highly unlikely that her feelings for me would be genuine. I'm one of the most despicable people you'll see in the world. Besides, 'right before I leave her forever', a situation like that causes many to misunderstand their minor likeliness as romantic feelings. Therefore, I would tell her that I'll wait for the day both our feelings become genuine. The day which only comes true in a fictional romantic comedy. However, if that is to come... then... maybe..."

Kawasaki let out a smile as she continued. "I expected you to say that." The wind blew in my face right before I realised, that we had reached Kawasaki's home. This was likely to be THE last time I'll ever see her. I'm sure she knew it as well as I did. _What would I tell her as my last words to her?_

"Umm... well... it was really nice knowing you. And... I know it sounds weird but... I'm really... gonna miss you." _IT SOUNDS SO WEEEEIIIRD!_ "Anyways... I'm... really glad that I met you. I mean... you never know... it isn't impossible that we won't meet again." _SOOOOOOO WEEEEEEIIIIIRD!_ I was really struggling to form sentences without some shitty awkward pause.

"Hikigaya?"

"Huh?"

"You know... it isn't too awkward for friends to h-h-hug, is it?" _HAH?_

"I... g-guess not..."

She took a few steps towards me whilst I backed off a step, then moved forward hesitantly. And before I knew it, I was performing the action called 'hugging'. It wasn't an eternal hug that couples describe themselves to engage in. Instead it lasted for roughly five to ten seconds. Meanwhile, I heard Kawasaki's voice murmur...

"I... am glad too." We soon let go of each other which allowed her to walk towards her door. Right before she opened the door, I asked one final question.

"Kawasaki... you know that situation you gave to me... let's say... you were the girl who confessed to a guy and he responded like how I said I would. How would you react?"

"Wait for that same day." And so, she entered her house, leaving me standing on the windy streets, looking up in disbelief, of what my life is turning out to be. Kawasaki's question did leave me with one question for myself. _Is it really possible for someone to have feelings for me? If it is... then could it be... NAAAAHHH! I NEED TO STOP THINKING LIKE THIS! This was the reason why I had suffered so much in middle school. NOT AGAIN!_

I turned around... and departed. Departed with two words ringing in my head. _Black lace..._

* * *

 **Saki POV**

"Saki nee-san, what are you looking at?" asked the youngest member of the family, my youngest brother, Kawasaki Keiichi. He watched me as I stared out of the window, looking at that man one last time.

I knew he was going to Tokyo. But at the same time, I expected his departure to take a few weeks. I wasn't expecting him to leave instantly. I wasn't prepared for him to leave instantly. Yesterday... I stood outside his door whilst I heard him converse with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama about the road trip. This meant that somehow... I had to be able to tell him everything. Everything I ever felt about him. Everything I've ever wanted to tell him. Surely enough we'll be in contact after he leaves. However texts can't say what words can. The voice in your phone call doesn't say what your voice in real life can. The expressions in an online video chat doesn't say what your expressions in real life can.

Realising that I won't get a significant amount of time from him before his departure, I stepped in and made a fake request. I knew Kei-chan was good in drama so I used her in this situation. However that smile on Yukinoshita's face said everything. She knew instantly that it was a lie. Kei-chan isn't getting bullied. But it was the first thing I could think of from the top of my head that would allow me to meet him again.

When I returned home that day, I begged Kei-chan to help me out as it would've been very strange if I were to change my request. She reluctantly agreed therefore we made our way to his house again the very next day. Kei-chan showed multiple signs of confusion, which made her repeatedly want to talk to me in private. I took her aside and re-explained everything that she had to do. Soon enough, they started discussing the problems. I felt extremely sorry for my sister but at the same time I felt regret for having made up a terrible plan for talking to him. It wasn't going to work with Kei-chan and Yuigahama there. However, once I realised that Yukinoshita wasn't planning on coming, I started suspecting that she was trying to do something about this. When Hikigaya handed me the phone, I knew that she was going to talk about it. Hence the first thing I did was to switch off the loudspeaker. As for the conversation, it went something like this...

 _"H-Hello..."_

 _"Kawasaki-san, I'll assume from your voice that it isn't going well. But then again, I shouldn't make you explain yourself too much because everyone will be able to hear you. Anyways, will you be able to do anything about it by yourself?"_

 _"No... I don't think so."_

 _"In that case I'll be on my way. I'll bring someone along who I think will be able to help you out here."_

 _"Yeah. That would be fine. But... how did you know?"_

 _"I know because I try to understand people. It's something I am good at doing. All of that aside, what I'll do now is make sure your sister is taken away. I don't know if your feelings towards Hikigaya-kun are romantic or not but as long as he's someone special to you, you should talk to him. Tell him what you want to tell him. You know what you have to do?"_

 _"Yeah... I know what I'll do."_

Once Yukinoshita arrived, she did exactly what she said she would. She dragged sensei, Kei-chan and myself outside where she explained everything and asked sensei to take my sister home and wait at a cafeteria for Yukinoshita to talk. However I was shocked at her statement about them leaving in two days. At first, I forced myself to believe that it was a lie that was part of the plan, but instead it was true. Whilst we were temporarily outside, she informed me about how she had to leave quickly to be able to attend her meeting. It definitely made everything more serious. And so... I had to instantly go back inside and put my plan to work.

I told them that I wanted to look around for cars so Yuigahama backs off as it wasn't something she would be able to help in. Along with some persuasion by Yukinoshita, I managed to take Hikigaya to the showroom. We looked around at many cars and pretty much everything that was there. He might have felt bored, but at the end of the day, when does he ever get excited?

Regardless, as soon as we started walking back, I knew that I had to speak up. But whatever it was, I just couldn't. Because I myself didn't know what I wanted to say. I didn't know what my request was. Did I want to confess feelings to him? Did I want him to not go Tokyo? Did I want him to take me with him? What did I want?

After reaching home, I realised that all I held within me was fear. Fear that he will fall down a metaphorical cliff. _Is he going to be safe? Are people going to disrespect him? Is he going to get friends? Are people going to accept him? Is he going to sacrifice himself again? Will he be successful_? All sorts of questions that make me fear for his future. I want him to be safe. I want him to be respected. I want him to have friends. I want him to be accepted. I want him to know his worth and never sacrifice himself ever again. I want him to be successful. But most of all... I want him to be happy. I didn't want him to fall down that cliff. But once he does, there's no way back. Don't go... it's... a mighty long fall. **[5]**

Before this realisation had hit me, I kept confusing myself and thinking that I had romantic feelings for him. The only way to answer that doubt was to ask him a certain question. His answer left me in no doubt. My worry for him was genuine. My admiration for him was genuine. My respect for him was genuine. However my love... wasn't. Accepting that answer, I walked back inside my house with a smile on my face, as I said goodbye to the man who changed my life without even knowing it.

I looked at him through the window. He was stood still before he departed the windy street, carrying all the wind along with him. And I simply... watched him.

"SAKI NEE-SAN. WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME?!" shrieked Keiichi, who had been waiting quite a while for an answer. _'What am I looking at', eh? What's the best way to describe it to him?_

"You know how you read all the superhero comics and watch the movies. You know how there's Iron man, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Spiderman, One punch man and many many more. Above all other 'man'... this... Keiichi... is Hikigaya Hachiman."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** **Well well well... I don't know where to start on this one. This was supposed to be out a few days ago but because of how bad the one-shot went, I had to re-read this multiple times until I felt confident enough to upload this. I mean... that one-shot was so bad that it's actually beneficial. Up until that point, I hadn't been receiving too many negative and destructive reviews and messages so I kinda got a bit too ahead of myself. Therefore, it was essential that I felt that disappointment because now hopefully I can come back better than before. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD GIVE ME BAD REVIEWS ON PURPOSE! Anyways, hopefully you guys liked this chapter. It wasn't as funny as the others might have been but it is part of the general plot nonetheless. The three will be departing in two days! And so... the road trip shall begin. I hinted at the introduction of Saki in chapter 2 so I had to include her. But then I realised... they'll be going on a road trip without her and it would be weird if they left and nothing really happened regarding Saki. So... I dedicated this chapter to her which hopefully doesn't feel too irrelevant. The next chapter is likely to the last one before they leave. Now... as I usually do... a few random things I feel like saying... IPL has begun! I know most of you don't know what that is or just don't care, but I love IPL! In case you don't know, it's a cricket tournament. IPL stands for Indian premier league. For all you Indian readers, IPL is very popular in the UK. Not as popular as WWE, UCL, etc but still... very popular. And... I support KKR. Anyways... a happy belated birthday to Isshiki Iroha... 16/04. There's a Russian translation of this story which you can find on ficbook dot net/authors/liquette. If any of you are Russian and want to read this in Russian, do check it out. Shout-out to the translator liquette. He/She is a brilliant and very friendly person. And I know a similar thing happened to FireHero and maybe some other authors as well so yeah...**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] _Arguably THE biggest rivalry in the world of sport. Barcelona VS Real Madrid. It's football/soccer in case you didn't know that either. The most recent one ended 2-1 to Real Madrid on 2 April which gave me the idea to include it. I don't support either of them by the way. I support AC Milan in case anyone wants to know. Inter fans please don't unfollow/unfavourite!_**

 **[2] _Everyone knows the viral dance Gangnam style. But apart from that, not everyone would know Gordon Ramsay. He is one of the best chefs in the world._**

 **[3] _The real movie 'Kung fu Panda'_**

 **[4] _Reference to Batman VS Superman yet again. Yep... yet again. I shall not stop making references to BVS! And the original dialogue is "Tell me... do you bleed? You will."_**

 **[5] _The song 'Mighty long fall' by ONE OK ROCK._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- OOC 8man**

 **Hachiman POV**

The force of the wind seemed to increase as I pushed my way towards home. I was struggling to walk at a quick rate. As the wind wore me down further, I decided maybe it would be a good idea to take cover inside a cafeteria or something. Hence, I used all remaining energy inside of me to run towards the visible cafeteria. The place was understandably crowded thanks to the weather. Just when I thought I would have to leave due to the lack of seats...

"Oh... Hikigaya... how did you get here?" Hiratsuka-sensei called out to me whilst seated comfortably inside. There was another woman sat opposite her, who soon turned herself around.

"Hikigaya-kun?" said the woman.

"Yukinoshita?" I responded. "Why are the two of you here?"

"Well... why are you here?"

"Kinda windy outside."

"Aren't you supposed to be with Kawasaki-san?"

"Oh about that... she didn't seem too interested herself but I completed the request nonetheless."

"And...?"

"And what?"

"Never mind."

"Anyways..." sensei interrupted. "Hikigaya why don't you take a seat?" I walked up to their table and sat down on an available chair.

"You seen how bad the wind is?" I tried starting a pleasant conversation. _Key word: "TRIED"_

"Hikigaya-kun..." began Yukinoshita. "I'm sure a five year-old will be able to say that one can't see wind. You might want to rephrase your question."

"Speaking of five year-olds, what happened to Kawasaki's sister?" _FUCK rephrasing- I mean DUCK rephrasing the question!_

"Hikigaya-kun..." _Not again..._ "She isn't five. Even a five year-old can say that she isn't five. And the fact that you actually start thinking when you hear 'five year-olds' is creepy."

"You're five."

"Excuse me?"

"You act like a five year-old. So please don't talk about it."

"If I may inform you... I've existed on this planet for more that eight thousand and seventy days. And how do I act like a five year-old?"

"MEEEAAAAAOOWWWW"

"Disgusting."

"I was just copying you."

"Disgusting. Besides, your arguments don't make it any less creepy that you think about five year-olds."

"I think about the safety of five year-olds. After all they're the future of the world."

"Disgusting."

"You think about cats. They barely contribute to the welfare of the world."

"Affection towards cats isn't disgusting. Affection towards random unrelated five year-olds is disgusting for a twenty four year-old man."

"When did I say I have affection for five year-olds?" I could see a very irritated Hiratsuka-sensei from the corner of my eye.

"You don't often hear a man confess his feelings that easily." Yukinoshita places her hand on my shoulder and continues. "It's fine. It's fine."

"Shut up. Says the woman who got dumped by a cat..."

"Dumped by a cat?" _Umm..._

"Umm... forget what I just said."

"Well... I won't be scared to admit it. I love cats. Absolutely adore them. You can even call me 'Catwoman'. Happy?" **[1]**

"You do realise that 'Catwoman' is an actual fictional character."

"What?"

"She's a superhero. According to the comics she is Batman's significant other."

"Who's Batman?"

"Another superhero."

"I meant who's Batman in real-life?"

"I... don't know."

"Does one exist?"

"I guess not."

"Good. Now I can be called 'Catwoman'."

"Are you drunk?"

"No-"

"AHEM!" interrupted the third member of the table. "You two! I do exist okay?"

"Okay." I replied. I looked up only to see her cracking her knuckles. I decided to correct myself. "Umm... well... what it is that you desire?" _POW!_

I held my stomach after it received the fist of the 50- I mean 37 year-old woman.

"Anyways..." sensei continued. "I need to get home soon. I have a child to look after. You can do your eternal flirting afterwards. About the girl... she seems to be doing fine."

"Well... that's... good to hear." replied Yukinoshita. She glanced towards me in hesitation.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Well..." started sensei. "Before the two of you begin again, I'll just speak instead. With the time we have, we can play 21 truth and dares?"

"What's that?" asked Yukinoshita.

"Hikigaya... explain."

"Basically each individual says either one, two, or three numbers in ascending order and whoever is forced onto the number '21' chooses whether they'd like to answer a challenging or personal question truthfully, or they could choose to do a daring activity." I finished and turned towards Yukinoshita for her answer.

"I respectfully decline."

"Eh?"

"I see danger to my chastity in a game like this."

"Seriously? After all the years..."

"Fine. Petty criminal."

"Alright then." Hiratsuka-sensei spoke up. "I'll start. Then Hikigaya. Then Yukinoshita. 1, 2, 3."

"4"

"5, 6"

"7"

"8"

"9, 10, 11"

"12, 13, 14"

"15"

"16"

"17, 18, 19"

"20"

This meant that it was Yukinoshita who would choose truth or dare.

"I choose... truth." _Alright then..._

"Okay..." Sensei and me began to think of an appropriate question to ask. It didn't take me log to come up with one.

"Are you ready for this?" I asked, warning Yukinoshita of the extremely challenging nature of the question.

"Y-Yes..." Despite Yukinoshita's hesitation, I carried on...

"What... is your favourite colour?" The silence probably suggested that the two were quite obviously shocked at my question. _Heh! I'm too good._

"Blue" replied Yukinoshita confidently. But before I could reply stating my surprise towards how comfortably she answered my mind-blowingly mind-blowing personal question, the old hag sitting opposite me raged.

"HIKIGAYA! DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY THIS FUCKING GAME?!"

"Umm..." I hesitated. "It would be helpful if you could avoid saying such inappropriate terms. Try using 'duck' instead of 'fuck'. I'm tryna keep it 'T' here."

"SHUT UP! PEOPLE SAY THAT WORD IN 'T' FICS REGARDLESS!"

"Is it?" I questioned.

"Hikigaya-kun," interrupted Yukinoshita, "you seriously realise that four chapters in?"

"Well pardon my lack of awareness. Shall we get on with the game?"

"Umm... sure."

"Hikigaya, next time your question better entertain me otherwise..." sensei began cracking her knuckles.

"F-Fine... I understand..." was all I could say.

"That being sorted out, Yukinoshita it's your turn to begin the counting."

"Fine. 1, 2" Yukinoshita commenced the counting again.

"3, 4" continued sensei.

"5" I followed.

"6, 7, 8"

"9, 10, 11"

"12"

"13, 14, 15"

"16, 17, 18"

"19, 20" _Oh shit it's Yukinoshita again._

With a nonchalant sigh, Yukinoshita spoke. "Fine. Truth again."

"Okay." Hiratsuka-sensei places her finger on her temple going into a deep thought again. She did remember to mention... "Hikigaya, if you want to ask the question. It BETTER entertain me."

 _Hmmm... something that will entertain her... something that will entertain her..._

"Yukinoshita..." I began. Yukinoshita didn't look too intimidated as she was last time. What I was more worried about was sensei. Maybe that's why my question is complimentary to her in a way. "Are you ready for the question?"

"Yes... go on." replied the victim of my question.

"Ahem... why did the chicken cross the road?"

"What?"

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"That's your question?"

"Why did the ducking chicken cross the ducking road?" _Ducking chicken..._ * _Ba dum tsss*..._

"Because it wanted to get to the other side, maybe?"

"Okay... why did it want to get to the other side?"

"Because it wanted to escape something, maybe?"

"What did it want to escape from?"

"A shocking and scary event, maybe?"

"What event might that be?"

"Finding an object not made in China, maybe?"

"More shocking than that."

"2 + 2= 5, maybe?"

"More shocking than that."

"Yuigahama-san not mistaking 'insect' for 'incest', maybe?"

"That was a good one but... even more shocking than that."

"Hiratsuka-sensei's marriage, maybe?"

I turned to sensei, unable to control a smile. "She said it not me."

Sensei was looking like she was generating fire from her skin cells. Nevertheless, what happened next was exactly what I was hoping for...

"Yukinoshita..." began sensei in an evil voice.

"Y-Yes?" replied a visibly scared ice queen.

"In all these years, I've never hit you, have I?"

"N-No s-sensei. Y-Y-You haven't." _That's right. It... is... time... FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Ahh I feel like a twelve year-old again._

I didn't take my eyes and ears off this confrontation, hoping for MY entertainment. _Catwoman VS... One punch woman?_

Rotating her fist intimidatingly, sensei continued. "I... have... never... hit you... have I?"

"N-N-N-No y-y-you h-h-haven't." Yukinoshita made a tactical yet uncomfortable retreat as she attempted to hide behind me.

"So I won't." responded sensei. Yukinoshita sat calmly back up instantly as if her life had been spared. But sensei, on the other hand... "HIKIGAYA!" _She's gonna play the same joke again, isn't she?_

Before sensei spoke further, I interrupted her. "If you accurately try to remember, you actually have punched me over eighty-eight times so I believe it would be wise if you don't punch me-"

*BAM!*

I looked down towards my stomach to find sensei's fist pressing against it. The only problem was... it was a VERY hard press.

"Oooouuch!" I exclaimed whilst holding my stomach in pain. "That really hurt!" **[2]**

"Don't tell me what to do." responded sensei as she watched my suffering in satisfaction. "Anyways, it was great hanging out with you two. And obviously Yukinoshita we had a long chat after all these years. It was refreshing I guess. However I really need to get going. I need to go look after my child. After all, I'm a married woman. I'm a married woman. A MARRIED WOMAN." _No matter how many times you say it, it still sounds weird._

Sensei departed, leaving me alone with Yukinoshita. Realising it was quite late, I thought it would be a good idea to leave as well.

"Yukinoshita I think I need to go as well. I need to get on with some packing and stuff like that."

"Is that right? Or are you gonna leave the packing for tomorrow and just play some video games instead?" _This woman reads me like a book._

"But why? It sounds like you want me to stay."

"Don't even get these disgusting thoughts in your head. I'm trying to help you here."

"Help?"

"I'm thinking we should go and explore the city. It's our penultimate day and we should really get to see the city fully before we go. Won't you say?"

"Well... I don't see too much wrong with it."

"Good. You didn't have any room to decline me anyway." _Bitch, please._ "Shall we get going then?"

"What about... Yuigahama?"

"She said she had already seen a lot of the city herself and preferred to focus on packing."

"Oh... alright." With that, we soon departed the cafeteria after the necessary payments.

* * *

There was nothing notable that occurred which would make me look back at this evening as something memorable. Everything we did was along the lines of a stereotypical acquaintance date that would seem like a romantic date to others. Trying to describe the evening in detail would get me copyright warnings as it has been described by millions in exactly the way it happened. But in the end, one thing I could take away from the evening, is that I feel like I can now leave this city without any regrets.

Glancing at my watch, it was 10 PM and we hadn't had dinner yet. Knowing that Yukinoshita will probably go into some high-class restaurant that I won't be able to afford, it is probably a good idea to take my leave.

"Umm... well it's getting pretty late. I guess I should really get going. Won't you say?"

"But we haven't even had dinner yet." _Damn it!_

"Oh... yeah... that... haha..." There was no way on Earth that I was accepting a treat by the claws of catwoman. Therefore I developed an idea that could work wonders in this situation. I picked up my phone and texted Zaimokuza. That's right... Zaimokuza. I know where he lives, because he never moved out of his parents' house from his childhood. Besides that, I also had his contact details. Also because they never changed either. Regarding the plan, all I texted him to do was to meet me at this alleyway near his house. The chosen destination is an alleyway so that we can avoid getting publicly embarrassed by him. Anyways, I will somehow get into the alleyway where Yukinoshita will be obliged to follow. Once we meet Zaimokuza, he would invite us to his house which should be enough for Yukinoshita to leave. _Should be..._

"Let's go." I said.

"Where?"

"To eat of course."

"Oh... but where?"

"Trust me I know a place."

"Wow... you've improved."

"At what?"

"Nothing"

"Oh..."

"Shall we get going then?"

"Uh... yeah..." I kept checking Google maps whilst we walked. I had to make sure that I entered the right alleyway.

In the midst of walking yet another silent and awkward path, I spotted the alleyway we were to go into. The end of the alleyway wasn't visible therefore I wasn't able to say if Zaimokuza was there or not. _I can only hope..._

"Yukinoshita..." I called out.

"Yes?"

"I kinda need to get rid of some stuff, so do you mind us going into that alleyway. It seems like there's a bin there."

"Can't it wait?"

"Well... as a good citizen I think it's wise to eliminate all litter we can see."

"Really? You're acting very OOC you know?"

"Well then I can use the ' _it's been 7 years so a character can change'_ excuse."

"Don't think it'll work."

"Why not?"

"Comments will say things like ' _Why is he acting like hachiwoman all of a sudden?_ ' and things like that."

"Seriously? How does being a good citizen and throwing litter away make me a female?"

"What I meant was it makes you opposite of who you are."

"So when you act abnormal you expect me to call you 'Yukiyes'?"

"Disgusting. Please stop it."

"Now if you don't mind I need to go and get rid of some litter."

"But don't you think it's a bit too dark in there?"

"Wouldn't it be perfect for you to meet some cats there? Catwoman?"

"But this kind of darkness resembles bats more than cats."

"As I told you before. Catwoman is batman's significant other. She wouldn't have any problems interacting with bats."

"So you're saying there ARE bats in there?!"

"No. Hell no."

"Can't we just wait to get to some bin that's not in an area that dark?"

"Could it be perhaps... that Yukinoshita Yukino is... scared... that she can't walk into a mere alleyway?"

"Fine let's go. Don't even dare think that I can't walk into a mere alleyway." Yukinoshita made yet another declaration against her fears. As a man who lacked too much fear myself, I didn't feel too uncomfortable with this decision of entering the intimidatingly dark alleyway. What I would be scared of is if Zaimokuza decides to attack me as blademaster general.

 _Speaking of Zaimokuza, he BETTER be there._ But just in case he wasn't, I kept picking up bits of litter which could buy him some time. Once we did reach a bin, I froze in annoyance due to the lack of the presence of Zaimokuza. Slowly, I began unloading all the litter I had. Yukinoshita stayed by me as annoyed as she could be. I took my time examining the surroundings. There was some graffiti on the walls, some signs of broken bottles. This was when I realised, we were in gang territory. Before taking another breath, I got rid of everything at once. Turning around, I knew we had to leave as soon as possible. However we were too late.

"Well well well... what do we have here..." spoke a male sinister voice. The owner of this voice emerges and makes his presence known alongside two other men besides him. The problem was... that none of them was Zaimokuza.

Looking around, I saw nowhere to run or hide. Finding no other alternative, I moved closer to Yukinoshita's ear and whispered. "Okay this is the bit where you tell me how you've had years of training in some martial arts and you can beat the shit out of these guys."

With eyes still focused on the three men, she whispered back to me. "Okay then... I've had years of practice in some martial arts and I can beat the excrement out of these people."

"Any of that true?"

"Nope."

"Fantastic."

In these situations where we were faced up against men with possibly harmful weapons, one can only rely on luck. Realising that it was my fault we were in this position, I decided it would be good to use MY luck.

"Yo gimme all you fucking got and we'll let you go." spoke one of the three men. A wave of guilt traveled down my body as I saw Yukinoshita reaching out for her purse. This could cost me my life but not if my instincts work fine.

Before Yukinoshita could give them any money, I put my arm in front of her as if to signal her to stop. I looked up at them like some ninja preparing a jutsu. With fake confidence, I spoke up. "Wait a minute... I got something to tell you guys."

"What the fuck you doing? I told you to give us all you got then we'll let you go. Don't try and play games with me now."

I took a sigh and began. "You, you and you..."

The three looked on as I carried on...

"Fuck all of you."

One of them grabs me by the collar and pushes me to the wall whilst the other two close up on me intimidatingly. It was going good. All of them were confined in one space.

"YO WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU DOING HUH?! YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT US?!"

"Well..." I began. "You may have the numbers advantage..." The three looked up just as a massive creature jumped over the wall right above us. "... but we've got the weight advantage."

"ZAIMOKUZA CRUSHEEEERRRR!" The three men face the destruction of the main man Zaimokuza Yoshiteru as he lands his entire mass onto their unfortunate souls.

With my help, the two of us kept the three men down and disarmed them of any weapons they possessed. Once we allowed them up, they fled without sparing another moment as they lacked any sources of intimidation. Myself and Yukinoshita left a massive sigh of relief. But Zaimokuza on the contrary...

"Flee you worthless peasants. Flee before I sprint and catch you!" _I doubt that'll happen considering your physical state._

"Calm down Zaimokuza. You're gonna scare us away at this rate."

"Ah... Hachiman. To think that we would reunite like this..." _This guy really hasn't changed._

"I know, right." I returned an awkward grin.

"Now that this sacred meeting has been established, we shall now discuss matters at my place. And feel free to bring this mortal along as well." _Sometimes I wish he'd act OOC._

"Hikigaya-kun, what is he talking about?" said Yukinoshita.

"Well..." I hesitated. "... he wants us to go to his house."

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to reject him?"

"But why?"

"Why not? I'm starving and presumably you are as well."

"Gefun! Gefun!" Zaimokuza makes his presence known. "Let me just put it out there that I haven't had dinner yet as a result of the quest assigned to me by-"

I stamped on his foot to avoid him from finishing his speech. I quickly moved slightly closer and whispered to him. "Zaimokuzaaaaa... she's not meant to know this."

"Could this perhaps be... a secret quest?" he responded.

"Yes... that's exactly what this is."

"In that case..." Zaimokuza stood straight and continued. "AHEM... well... well... well... ummm..." _For duck's sake!_ "Regardless of my mission, Hachiman, you and your mortal friend are invited to my place for a meal."

"I respectfully decline. Although I have to thank you for your efforts in rescuing us." said Yukinoshita.

"I don't see too much wrong with it actually." I retorted. "We should really extend our thanks to his family." _And we get a free meal..._

* * *

Witnessing the state of the Zaimokuza family, I regretted my decision already.

"AWWWW I knew one day my little Yoshiteru would help someone." The voice of Mrs Zaimokuza was weirdly sickening. Regardless of her voice, her appearance and posture was dull and alongside her aging hair, she looked as if she was suffering from some serious illness despite the fact she was moving around quite a lot.

"Mom, I told you I'm the hero this city deserves." replied Zaimokuza.

"Ahem..." Zaimokuza's father cleared his throat, catching my and Yukinoshita's attention. He was in a way, a carbon copy of his only child. With a large belly presumably the result of the beer cans that lay near a bin, it was obvious that he's not the most attractive man you'll ever see. "Well... I can say that today I feel truly proud of my son's actions. All he used to do was draw images of lewd women and sell them to get money. Want to see them?"

"N-N-No thank you!" we replied in unison. If Mrs Zaimokuza's voice was sickening, Mr Zaimokuza's was downright depressing. In other words, this was one hell of a scary family to live with. At this point, I couldn't wait to get the hell out of here and leave them alone to their depressing lives. However I had to deal with what I had signed up for.

"So the name's Hachiman, eh? So you're the one that my little Yoshiteru talks about defeating on the battlefield of Eden." said Mrs Zaimokuza.

"Umm... yeah... I guess that's right." I replied.

"So how's the steak?"

"Great..." The only thing slightly positive in this moment was the food. I could see why some members of this family looked overfed.

"How about some more?"

"No that's more than enough thank you."

"Nonsense! You still have a lot left to eat. You can't be full yet." _I could see EXACTLY why some members of this family looked overfed._

At this point I realised, that Yukinoshita hadn't left. I had expected her to leave as soon as Zaimokuza had made his invitation clear. I was surprised to see her still with me therefore my heart instantly felt a wave of guilt for dragging her along.

With a filled appetite, we prepared to depart the Zaimokuza family. I didn't tell Zaimokuza that I'd be leaving the city mainly because that would extend the obligatory time I spent in that house. But maybe as thanks for everything he's ever done for me, there was something I could say...

"Zaimokuza..." I called out.

"Huh?"

"Remember one thing... don't let anyone in this world become more useless than you."

"Understood."

"I thought so." I put on my shoes and proceeded towards Yukinoshita who was waiting at the door. "Well... I guess I'll be going."

"Hachiman-kun..." Mrs Zaimokuza began. "Next time you come you'll have to eat more." _No thank you..._

"You..." Mr Zaimokuza made his way towards me and places his hand on my shoulder. "Next time maybe have some beer with me." _No thank you..._

"Hachiman..." And finally, Yoshiteru Zaimokuza... "Next time check out some of my artwork." _PRAISE THE DUCKING LORD! NO DUCKING WAY!_

Without further delay, we departed the family and walked out of the area as soon as possible to avoid any other gangsters. With the guilt of annoying Yukinoshita to the core, I unwillingly had to cheer her up. _Yuigahama mode: ON._

"So did you like the food, Yukinon-I mean Yukinoshita?"

"It was alright... Hikki."

"Are you mad at me?"

"What do you think?" She gave a pouting expression that I couldn't help but feel apologetic towards.

"I'm sorry I didn't expect the atmosphere in the house to be so gloomy."

"Well I guess I should consider myself lucky that nobody spoke a word to me."

"Yeah I kinda noticed that too. Anyways it's getting late so-"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Home of course."

"But we still have to- umm... never mind." _I knew she was waiting for something..._

"Still have to what?"

"Nothing."

"What is it?"

"I said it's nothing!"

"So do I get to go home then?"

"Umm..."

I let out a sigh of obligation. Before I said anything, she began walking ahead of me. Seeing no other alternative, I followed.

"Yukinoshita... it's kinda dark and you're walking so far ahead. You know you might get lost."

"Trust my sense of navigation. I know exactly where I'm going." A middle-school Hachiman would take this comment and start making fairy tale assumptions of what it means. However, with an increased sense of awareness, I shall not misunderstand. I've trained my mind in these situations to not overthink. I'm supposed to be unaware of the destination hence I shall make sure I'm unaware of the destination.

As the time ran closer to midnight, Yukinoshita increased her pace. I, as a suspicious human being, felt... suspicious. _Well duh..._

"Yukinoshita!" I called out. "Where the hell are you going?"

"Didn't I tell you to trust my sense of navigation?"

"Now you see the problem is that I'm beginning to lose that trust."

Instead of replying, she increased her pace even further. As a result, I jogged towards her and caught up.

"Oi..." I said. "You lack stamina yet you're walking so fast. It's almost as if you're running late for something."

"You've practically nailed it." she replied.

"W-Waaaiit a minute! What even is supposed to happen? I presume you're waiting for midnight. It's not as if it's someone's birthday tomorrow."

"Well you're right with the midnight part. But it's got nothing to do with a birthday."

"Well... anything to do with a family matter? Like Hayama returning from the soccer team to spend some time with your family?"

"I don't know how that has got any relation to midnight. And besides if Hayama-kun were to arrive at my house, I'd use all this stamina to run AWAY from there."

"Oh..."

"And it's 'football'. Not 'soccer'."

"Well the Europeans call it 'football'. Americans call it 'soccer'. And us Japanese have a knack of following whatever Americans do."

"I actually don't get it. Why do we follow Americans so much? I respect the country but I don't understand why Japan sucks up to America so much."

"Well... I've got two words to answer that question. 'Hiroshima' and 'Nagasaki'."

"But on a real note, 'football' reflects the game exactly how it is. Foot and a ball."

"You do have a point but can we just stick to 'soccer'? This little war should be fought between Britain and USA. I don't see why we should give two shits."

"You see the point is how the two countries speak the same language but have a few differing words and spellings. And this is enough to create a mini cold war."

"You do have a point. Is it the same for other countries such as North and South Korea?"

"Well not exactly. Because in this case South Koreans speak Korean. Whilst the North Koreans speak Kim Jong-Un."

"Ah..." I was muted once I realised where we ended up. This was where Yukinoshita had taken me. This was what she was waiting for all day.

Her eyes glimmered as she realised it wasn't midnight yet and that she had made it on time. Her expression indicated that all the energy applied into the journey was worth it.

The two of us spent a moment looking at the large poster with sizable text saying 'MIDNIGHT PREMIERE OF KUNG FU PAN-SAN 2".

The moment we removed our gaze from the poster and looked at each other, I had no other alternative. Half of me had a sense of sympathy. And the other half had sense of will. With time in hand and no other choice, I asked her...

"Wanna?"

"Yep."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **: Yes... you've guessed it right... I'm gonna start off with an apology. Yes... I know I've apologised on my other story but I should do it again for the ones who haven't read my other story. I'm SORRY. It's been almost a month since my last upload. I do have valid reasons as to why I haven't uploaded for such a long time, but considering how long it would be to explain, I don't think anyone would like to know it. Besides, explaining the entire reason would do injustice to the word count of this chapter so yeah. Apart from that I hope you liked this chapter. The support for this story has been amazing. However after the previous chapter I did get 1 unfollow :( Regardless of that, 80 followers 4 chapters in is very encouraging. If it goes well, I MIGHT be able to reach 100! But it's good not to fantasize so I won't. I would freak out as soon as it reaches 100... if it does ever reach 100. Anyways, one thing I wanted to mention. The Kim Jong-Un joke and the Japan sucking on America statement, if anyone happens to find it offensive do inform me about it so that I avoid making similar jokes/statements in future chapters. Similarly if there's anything else that you found offensive then please tell me about it. Regardless I hope that you can take these as mere jokes and not put deep thought into them. Serious stuff aside, as I promised, this will be the last chapter before the trip begins. I've started working on chapter 6 and yes... I've stuck to my word.**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] _The fictional character 'Catwoman'. Hachiman pretty much describes her basic character so I won't try doing it myself._**

 **[2] _Reference to the viral video 'Charlie bit my finger - again!' This is one of the most popular video out on YouTube with over 839,000,000 views as of now._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- The world where there are a lot of people... who speak a lot of different languages. This was supposed to be a short and snappy chapter title but... oops.**

"HIKKI! Why're you taking so long? We're supposed to be leaving within the next ten minutes!" screamed the voice of Yuigahama Yui who was standing outside the door of my house.

"It's not my fault!" I replied from my window as I was finishing the final bits of packing. With considerably less packing time than Yuigahama available to me, it was rather unfair of her to shout like this.

 _Extra toothbrush... check. Diary... check. Stupidly empty photo album... check. Lucky charm given by Komachi... check. Pan-san cup from seven years ago... check. Playstation 4... check. And most importantly, unlimited supply of MAX Coffee... check. Now I'm a happy man._

"Hachiman?" said my mother.

"What?"

"Are you feeling ready?" she asked in a sad tone.

"Yes... I guess."

"Forgive my voice, it's just... it's just..." She began wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "It's just that... it seems like yesterday that you departed for university."

"Mom..."

"Remember to wash your clothes nicely. Remember to sleep nice and early. Maybe once in a while staying up late isn't too bad but doing it too often will affect your health. And... well... umm... eat healthy. And... remember to be polite to everyone you meet. Try making friends but if it doesn't happen then it doesn't happen. At least you know how to spell it. And... one last thing... what was it? I kinda forgot..."

"Call you twice per day?"

"Oh... yes... that's the one. How did you know?"

"You said the same thing back when I was about to leave for university."

"Oh... did I? Haha... well... I mean..."

"I understand." I looked firmly at the ground, determined not to let my emotions get the better of me. It was weird witnessing such emotions being felt for me. Maybe it's good that it's weird. In that way I don't start expecting people to care for me. I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see my mother smiling gently at me. For some reason that was enough to bring a smile to my own face.

"Hachiman..." she began. "... go break a leg."

"That's what you told me on the first day of high school. And as an obedient child, I broke a leg." _Literally..._

"Oh I remember now! The car accident! Still haunts me to this day."

"Is that why you needed reminding?" I asked sarcastically. "Regardless, there's no need to worry about those things that have happened in the past." I paused and glanced outside the window to see Yukinoshita and Yuigahama standing with all their luggage, prepared to leave. "In fact, I'm happy that it happened."

"HAH?! What are you? Some sort of masochist?"

"Hell yeah..." I joked which caused the two of us to let out a giggle. "Anyways, where's Komachi?"

"Downstairs with your father."

"In that case..." I picked up my luggage off the ground and scanned the room to see if I had missed something. "... I'll be on my way." And so, I left the room for what was possibly the last time I'd ever call it 'mine'.

Downstairs I encountered Komachi and my father talking to each other. From what it looked like, Komachi was getting some sort of advice from dad.

"Dad" I called out.

"Ah... Hachiman, you ready?"

"Yep. I've packed whatever I'll need for the trip and for the first few days after I get my accommodation. The rest I've packed into cartons which are in my room. Once I'm assigned to my accommodation, I'll send you the address so you can send them over."

"Wow..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Just surprised at how responsible you've become."

"How old do you think I am?"

"Regardless of how old you are, you still seem like a little kid to me and your mother." _Another over-used line._

In the corner of my eye, I could see my younger sister looking at her book with a sullen expression.

"Oi... Komachi..." I stated.

"What?"

"You seem depressed?"

"Why do you think that?"

"Maybe because you can't solve that question, maybe?"

"Baka..."

Realising how I lacked the ability to console someone in these kind of situations, I slowly backed off and headed towards the door.

With an eccentric wave of sorrow rushing through me, I decided to waste no time and prepare my departure.

"Goodbye I guess..." I said in a deep voice. My parents nodded proudly whilst Komachi didn't get up.

"Baka..." she murmured once again.

"What?" I asked.

"You're leaving."

"Well duh..."

"Komachi doesn't want you to. A-And I b-b-bet th-that line... s-scored me a lot of... Komachi points." Regardless of the amount of points scored, that line definitely meant that I could walk out the door with a smile on my face. Without further ado, I opened the door slowly and set foot outside. The two women who I'd be travelling with were patiently standing as I turned around one last time and waved an emotional goodbye.

"Meoow" I had almost forgotten the legend itself.

"Yes goodbye to you too, Kamakura."

As I reached Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, I attempted to hide my face as I didn't want them to see me in such a state. In these situations an insult from Yukinoshita would really help.

"Hikigaya-kun, why do you look like a molested rabbit?" _Praise the lord..._

"What does a molested rabbit look like?"

"You" _Brutal as always._

"Shall... we get going then?" I asked.

"That would be a good idea."

As I approached my car, I felt ready. Ready for the future. Ready for whatever is to come in the future.

"LET'S GO!" screamed Yuigahama as she ran towards the boot to keep her luggage. This was it... the road trip... had begun

* * *

12 seconds later...

"Dad I forgot my car keys."

"To hell with being a responsible man..." replied dad as he allowed me in as I entered the house that I expected to not return to for at least a few months.

I sprinted towards where I keep my car keys and grabbed them in annoyance. Eventually, I made my way slowly back towards the door of the house, feeling extremely awkward. I departed once again, this time not feeling quite so emotional. I may have heard dad say something along the lines of "What is this recording of cat noises on my old phone?" but I have no idea what he's talking about.

Reaching the visibly irritated Yukinoshita and Yuigahama, I expressed my apologies and opened the boot for everyone to keep their luggage in. Once that was done, we took our seats in the car. Both women sat on the rear seat as I was accompanied by my eternal friend called 'air' at the front of the car.

I turned my head to see my house and my family one last time as I turned on the engine... and set off... this time without the troll.

* * *

"Hikki?"

"Yes?"

"Did you... cry?"

"Umm... not really. Did you?"

"I was almost about to but then I realised that we're not too far away from Chiba so you can drive me home anytime. Isn't that right, Hikki?"

"Nope. Hell nope."

"EEEHHH?! Yukinon Hikki's being mean to me!"

"Hikigaya-kun..." I could feel a stare from the ice queen herself.

"But she started it though!" I replied.

"Then you end it."

"Stop acting like my mom."

"Stop acting like my son."

"You have a son?"

"Umm... what I meant was that you're acting as if you're my son. I'm not trying to say that I already have a son and you act like him." _Imagine... if it's revealed that Yukinoshita Yukino has had a child for quite a few years. 92 unfollows and 65 unfavorites in one day._

"Anyways..." I began. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Right..." Yukinoshita cleared her throat before she continued. "As of now we're driving to Nara prefecture where we've booked a hotel. We'll be staying there for the night, explore the place the next day then head further south in the evening."

"Okay." I replied. "So how long's the drive?"

"About six and half hours. Could be less if traffic isn't too bad."

"Fan... tastic..."

"I don't know what you're moaning about. You were once a taxi driver."

"Yeah but the longest I've driven was probably around two hours."

"Want me or Yuigahama-san to drive?"

"Nooooo heeeelllll noooo"

And so, the long drive had officially commenced. There wasn't a lack of small arguments which meant that I wouldn't doze off. _And I had MAX Coffee..._

However, with the long-awaiting misfortune waiting to strike, it did so at the worst possible time.

* * *

About four hours later...

"Umm..."

"Umm..."

"Umm..."

The three of us, now standing outside the car in a pretty deserted area, stared at the poor vehicle and it's punctured tire.

In these situations, one starts getting frustrated and wants to blame the problem onto someone.

"Hikki..."

"Hikigaya-kun..."

"Me..."

Once the blaming bit was done, all we had to do is pray.

"Lord please send us some help."

"It seems like only God can save us now."

"I'm an atheist."

Once the praying was done, the next thing was for God to come down from heavens and replace the tire.

 _Still waiting..._

 _Still waiting..._

 _Still waiting..._

Once the waiting was done, it was time to come back into the real world and get some help for real. Realising that I was the only one with the capability of doing something about this, I spoke up first.

"Well..." I began. "I haven't got an extra tire so I guess I have to go and try and hitchhike to perhaps get a ride to a repair shop. You two stay in my car and make sure the doors are locked. Whatever you do... don't open the windows. Criminals are smarter these days."

"Wow Hikki you seem very overprotective." said Yuigahama.

"It's for your safety of course." _And my car's... and my MAX Coffees'..._

"Okay then Hikki." Yuigahama let out a supportive smile. "Don't take too long."

"I'll try." And so I went on my search for a hitch-hike once the two women sat down inside my car and closed the doors. Little did I know...

Finding a hitch-hike is harder than I expected...

* * *

"Excuse me sir, would you mind giving me a ride to the nearest motor repair shop?" I asked in Japanese.

"Well..." The British tourist in his car replied... in English. "I don't understand Japanese. Do you speak English young man?"

"Umm..." To be honest, my English wasn't terrible but at the same time I wasn't prepared for a proper conversation with an actual British human. "I understand... a little."

For some reason I felt slightly awkward having this conversation. The guy seemed to speak nicely however he probably wanted an opening to speak in slang and rude English. Therefore once he realised I'm not too good with English, he turned around and spoke to one of his children. "Oi... you watch that Japanese anime shit innit? Help this guy speak to me cuz he's probably pissed his pants tryna speak English." **[1]**

As hard as it was for me to understand English, I did get the general message of his statement and the fact that there was an insult towards me. Feeling enraged, I decided not to waste any of my time with him.

"So... what do you want?" asked the man.

I took a deep breath and recollected every ounce of my English-speaking skills and began. "I just wanted to inform you that you were adopted by your parents when you were a little orang-utan and your parents were big chimpanzees. Thank you for listening. Have a wonderful day."

"What did you say?" The man gave a furious yet confused expression.

"Twinkle twinkle little star... how I wonder what you are..." _What did I say?_

"Excuse me... if seems as if you're here to waste my time. If that's the case then I'll be leaving." Keeping all his composure, he managed to drive off without violently attacking me.

At this point I realised, that getting a hitch-hike in a tourist-infested road, would be difficult. VERY difficult.

There were the French...

"Ferme la bouche... paysan."  
 **[Translation: "Shut your mouth... peasant."]**

Then there were the Spanish...

"Putaaaaa"  
 **[Translation: "Biiiiitch"]**

The German...

"Abhauen"  
 **[Translation: "Piss off"]**

The Brazilian...

"Me deixe em paz" _7-1_ **[2]  
[Translation: "Leave me alone"]**

The Russian...

"Нет"  
 **[Translation: "No"]**

The Indian... who actually knew plenty of English however was more interested in advertising than giving me a ride...

"Chandraprakashasuryobakshini exclusive condoms. More consistent than Virat Kohli's batting. Stronger than The Great Khali's fingernails. But oh wait... why am I advertising to a virgin?" **[3]** _I wonder why... I wonder why you think that things like these need to be consistent..._

The Somalian...

"Ka xumahay" _Okay I think he's being polite you know...  
_ **[Translation: "Sorry"]**

The Indonesian...

"Minggir"  
 **[Translation: "Move"]**

The American...

"..." *Gets a gun out*

Anyways, after my numerous failed attempts, I reached a point where I was starting to get more and more desperate. I began moving more towards the smaller roads where I might have a higher chance of finding local Japanese people.

Fortunately, I saw a red SUV with a driver who looked Japanese. With OOC optimism, I sprinted towards them in anticipation. I had to be optimistic, I had to be...

"Excuse me..." I began. "... is there any way I could get a ride to the nearest motor shop?"

"No."

"But I'm kinda desperate so please-"

"No."

"Please I-"

"No."

"I said 'please'-"

"No."

"Can you please hear me out?"

"No."

"At least tell me if you're in a hurry?"

"No."

"Please-"

"No."

"Just please listen-"

"No."

"Do you have any brain cells?"

"No."

"That's what I thought..."

Feeling disappointed, I turned around in annoyance and walked away to avoid being potentially attacked by Mr No brain cells. The disappointment was starting to settle in. But just in time to avoid me committing suicide, a voice from the car behind the SUV, spoke up.

"Hikitani-kun, is that you?!" _Tobe the lord and the saviour..._

* * *

Meanwhile...

 **Yui POV**

I did tell Hikki to hurry up. But he did anything but that. But I didn't blame him. That's because it's probably very difficult... whatever he's doing right now. I'm trying to understand him better nowadays. As a grown man, he has responsibilities and duties to do. That's different from the lazy and dull Hikki from all those years ago. It's funny how he's all interested into working rather than sitting around trying to conserve energy. I actually don't which know version of Hikki do I like better. But Yukinon on the other hand...

"He really hasn't changed has he?" she said.

"Huh?"

"What do you think?"

"Who are we talking about?"

"Hikigaya-kun of course."

"So you think Hikki hasn't changed?"

"Of course not."

"But why?"

"He still has that mindset of a pessimist and a loner. He still thinks in a unique way."

"But he's started to work and everything and he doesn't seem to want to become a house-husband anymore."

"That's just him realising the necessities of life. That's something that happens to everyone. Eventually everyone reaches a stage where they realise the necessities of life. It's a process called 'growth' Yuigahama-san."

"Oh... you said 'growth'. Does that mean that the story ends here?"

"Yuigahama-san... saying the title doesn't have to necessarily mark the end of the story."

"Oh..."

"Growth is a term that defines our very existence. Ever since the big bang, the world has been in different stages of growth where advances have been made naturally, biologically and intellectually."

 _Dumb people tips 2: If getting lectured in a vehicle and you can't understand a thing, look outside the window of the vehicle as if you understood everything but you're just applying deep thought to it._

"Yuigahama-san..."

"Yes?"

"Did you understand what I just said?"

"Of course Yukinon!"

She sighed and continued. "Do you know what the big bang was?"

"Obviously! It was when two hydrogen atoms collided and then BHWAM WHABOOM BHOOOWAAAAKAMOBHABHOOOOOM"

"I actually don't know whether I should be proud that you knew about the hydrogen atoms or should I be ashamed that the remainder of your answer was in a language unknown to mankind." responded Yukinon whilst repeatedly rubbing her temple with her fingers. "Well anyways, I need to get some fresh air so I'll be back in a minute."

And so, Yukinon exited the car whilst I stayed inside. I watched her as she walked a fair distance away from the car. For some reason, she came to an abrupt stop and started staring awkwardly at something not visible to me. I couldn't help but look at her with more interest, feeling suspicious of where she was looking(or rather what she was looking at). Almost instantly, she began walking towards her line of sight. I on the other hand, couldn't help but to visually follow her. Once she stopped, strangely enough, she crouched down, and there she was... interacting with them. By 'them' I meant the vicious beings who seemed to have Yukinon in some sort of trance. They looked at her with malicious intent, however Yukinon didn't move. That's right... what Yukinon was looking at, and what she was interacting with right now...

...

...

...

... cats.

*RING* *RING* *RING* _Oh... that must be my phone..._

... or at least that's what I thought.

It wasn't my phone. Instead it was Yukinon's. Knowing how there was no way I could get Yukinon to answer her call, I took it up on myself to answer and inform the caller on what the situation is.

Hence, I answered the call...

"Hello"

"Allô? Pourrais-je parles à Yukinoshita Yukino?" I was taken aback by the response. It seemed like an old man's voice speaking in French. I had barely sufficient knowledge on French therefore I couldn't exactly make out what was being said. Regardless, from what Hikki has been telling me, there are a lot of people who call from other countries saying how you won a prize, but in the end they just want to scam you. Therefore, instead of telling him to call later, I decided to respond to him how Hikki would... and that is by wasting his time. Recollecting all the French knowledge I had(or lack thereof), I artistically designed my reply.  
 **[Translation: "Hello? May I speak to Yukinoshita Yukino?"]**

"Oui oui oui oui je m'appelle je m'appelle je joue je joue oui oui oui."  
 **[Translation: "Yes yes yes yes my name is my name is I play I play yes yes yes."]**

"Est-ce le bon numéro?"  
 **[Translation: "Is this the right number?"]**

"Oui oui c'est magnifique. J'adore Sablé woof woof woof woof!"  
 **[Translation: "Yes yes it's magnificent. I love Sablé woof woof woof woof!"]**

"Excusez-moi, mais qui est à l'appareil?"  
 **[Translation: Excuse me, but who is at the phone?"]**

"Ça va bien merci. Je mange le tennis toujours et je joue au pizza."  
 **[Translation: "I'm okay thank you. I always eat tennis and I play pizza."]**

"Pardon pour le dérangement. Au revoir."  
 **["Sorry for any inconvenience. Goodbye."]**

And so ended the conversation. I kept asking myself whether I did the right thing by replying so stupidly but... it's too late now anyway. Soon enough, Yukinon returned showing some signs of haste. I opened the door for her and just as I was about to tell her what had happened, she picked up her phone which lay at the seat and was about to leave again.

"Yukinon! Where are you going now?" I said.

"Well I just came back to get my phone. A family acquaintance of mine from France should be calling anytime now. It's for some serious business discussions obviously."

...

...

...

 _I want to kill myself._

"Yukinon..."

"Yes?"

"About that phone call..."

"Yes?"

"Umm..."

"Did he call right now?"

"Well... yeah..."

"What did you say?"

"Well... because Hikki's always been telling me how-"

"Okay that's enough. I can't believe it." said Yukinon with a very annoyed expression. She started interacting with her phone, presumably checking the call history. Taking a few steps away from the car, she called her 'acquaintance'.

"Allô? Oui c'est Yukinoshita." she began. "C'etait ma copine Yuigahama... oui elle est assez stupide." _Stupid?  
_ **[Translation: "Hello? Yes it's Yukinoshita."]  
** **[Translation 2: "It was my friend Yuigahama... yes she is quite stupid."]**

She went on to have a long conversation whilst I sat inside feeling gloomy with regret and guilt. Thankfully however, it didn't take very long for HIM to return...

* * *

 **Hachiman POV**

After Tobe helped me get to the motor shop, I wasted no time in explaining the situation and then asked them to repair my car ASAP. The staff prepared their truck which was filled with equipment and thus we set off towards my car. Tobe insisted to come along but I didn't want to owe him more than what I already did hence I rejected him.

My car wasn't the most unique thing in the world however it was pretty easy to spot. With the figure of Yukinoshita surrounded by tiny felines located right next to my car, I was more than certain that it was my vehicle. Yukinoshita seemed to be engaged in a phone call but it soon ended once I made my way towards them along with the well... I don't know what to call them. Car repairers? Motor shop workers? God?

"Hikigaya-kun..."

"Hikki..."

"Yes yes I know I took longer than expected. But trust me it is harder to get a hitch-hike than you think. I bet you two wouldn't be able to get a ride that quick."

The two looked at me with an expression saying _"Challenge accepted."_ With no intention of wasting more time, I had to rephrase my sentence.

"Well it could be easy for women who look like they're about to enter a modelling competition." _Shit that sounded flirtatious..._

Whilst the two looked embarrassed, I could somehow sense some sort of tension between the two. _Did they have a fight whilst I was gone?_

Meanwhile, the 'whatever they are called' finished their job and presented to me my beloved vehicle. Anyways, once they were done, I payed the entire cost myself mainly because it was my car and my car only. I didn't want anyone else to take responsibility for whatever happened to it.

Once the... umm... well... I can't exactly call them God anymore so... ahem... once the peasants meddling with my car left, I proceeded to give it a little test and then eventually we set off after Yukinoshita's emotional farewell with the cats.

The roads were unexpectedly empty, allowing me to increase the speed as we had lost a significant amount of time. But what was more unexpected was the mood at the rear seats. Yuigahama looked down with a dull expression as if she felt guilty. On the other hand, Yukinoshita's expression displayed some sort of annoyance. _Maybe something did happen whilst I was gone..._

I never expected this moment to occur but yes... I'm in a situation where I have to cheer everyone up. It wasn't really a choice. I couldn't go on for the rest of this trip with these two acting so awkwardly. The question was... how was I to do it? How was I... Hikigaya Hachiman... to cheer people up? My talking skills would be more than useless. Me trying to talk cheerfully would only add to the awkwardness and possibly make the situation worse. _In that case... what should I do?_

The answer came to me rather quickly. Driving a peaceful journey with a beautiful sky above us, we needed... music. That's right.

I began shuffling through whatever music I had at my disposal and picked one that I believe could potentially bring a smile at least if not influence them to sing along. Especially Yuigahama since she'd need to practice her singing. **[The song is 'Bored to death' by blink-182. You may decide to play it in the background as you read on. I recommend you to do so. In that way it would feel less weird whilst reading.]**

"There's an echo... pulling out the meaning  
Rescuing a nightmare from a dream  
The voices in my head are always screaming  
That none of this means anything to me" I could see the expressions on the two faces behind me changing for the good.

"And it's a long way back from seventeen  
The whispers turn into a scream  
And I...  
I'm not coming home"

"Save your breath, I'm nearly  
Bored to death and fading fast  
Life is too short to last long  
Back on Earth I'm broken  
Lost and cold and fading fast  
Life is too short to last long" The two women were quite obviously enjoying the music. I could almost hear soft murmurs as if they were preparing to sing along.

"There's a stranger staring at the ceiling  
Rescuing a tiger from a tree  
The pictures in her head are always dreaming  
Each of them means everything to me"

"And it's a long way back from seventeen  
The whispers turn into a scream  
And I..."

Forgetting all the murmurs, the three of us let out one loud shout...

"I'M NOT COMING HOME!"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **: Save your breath, I'm nearly, bored to death and fading faaaaaaast. Ahem... sorry about that. Anyways, first things first. Hopefully you liked this chapter. Google translate helped me out for the small translations but for the French phone conversation I had to ask my French teacher for that mainly because Google translate isn't good when it comes to translating long sentences. And to anyone who's language has been used, I didn't want to portray any nationality in a bad way neither did I want to portray any nationality as more superior than others. It was all just for banter. This goes especially towards the Americans and the Indians as I represented them in my story in a potentially ruder way. The advertising thing, it is from personal experience from when I visited India in 2014 although it was about something else and the way I've described it in the story is definitely exaggerated than how it probably is. The American and the gun thing, it is a stereotype that Americans are generally related with guns but I didn't intend to use that stereotype in a rude way. I respect everyone and I'm not trying to hate on anyone. Hopefully all the American readers understand that and not take any offence. Regardless, if there's any joke/statement that anyone thinks has crossed the line and is genuinely offending then do tell me so. Personally I don't find anything I wrote offensive but you guys will be able to judge it better. As for anyone who's nationality/language wasn't mentioned, I'm sorry but I can't go and include every single nationality/language can I?**_

 _ **UCL final... feel sorry for Atleti fans. Twice in three years.**_

 _ **As for the 100 followers thing... WE ARE SO CLOSE! This is how each chapter has contributed to the followers:**_

 _ **Chapter 1: +44  
Chapter 2: +7  
Chapter 3: +21  
Chapter 4: +8  
Chapter 5: +12**_

 _ **So as long as this chapter is even semi-decent, we really could reach 100 followers as a result and I'm reeaaally excited.**_

 _ **As you may know that in my profile page, I've got the 'upcoming' section as 3. I thought maybe it would be a good idea to tell you guys what ideas I have in mind. The first one is obviously the detective one. The second is a very tragic one-shot(or at least that's how I see it). The third one will be a Saki fic which I might not come around to releasing.**_

 _ **Another thing I wanted to mention... the song thing. As you'd expect, I'll be including more songs in this story so what I wanted to ask is that which way shall I use it? Option 1- The chapter 1 way where I wrote out the lyrics then left a reference for what the song is. Option 2- Chapter 6 way where I included an awkward A/N in there which informed you about the song then gave you the choice whether you want to listen to it in the background. Or... you could also tell me if there's any other ways.**_

 _ **To conclude, again... hopefully you liked this chapter and are looking forward to the next one. I won't describe the trip in detail, I'll only be describing certain events that could be funny and entertaining(or possibly romantic) to read.**_

 _ **References**_

 **[1]** _ **British slang. The only bit you might find hard to understand is "innit?". It doesn't mean "in it" but instead means "isn't it?".**_

 **[2] _2014 football/soccer world cup that took place in Brazil. Brazil's team did brilliantly in the tournament only to get thrashed by Germany 7-1 in the semi-final. It was one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of football and probably a taboo in Brazil. Sorry if there's any Brazilian readers :(_**

 **[3] _Virat Kohli is an Indian cricketer who's batting is VERY consistent. You guys probably know who The Great Khali is but just in case... he's an Indian WWE wrestler._**

 _ **Anyways...**_

 _ **Thank you for reading :)**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Le short et snappy title**

"Hikigaya-san..." _What... who's talking to me?_ "Hikigaya-san... wake up." _Who's in my room?_ "HIKIGAYA-SAN!"

I opened my eyes slower than my wi-fi connection. I was supposed to be in my hotel room, sleeping alone. Then why was it that once I opened my eyes I saw a doctor and my family?

"Onii-chan... you're finally awake!" Komachi screamed as she wrapped her arms around me. The question is... why does she look like a thirteen year-old?

"Hachiman!" said my mother who was in her work clothes. _Jeez mom why do you look so young all of a sudden?_

My dad on the other hand, said nothing but maintained a delighted expression. _Wait a minute... what happened to his white hair? Why does he have black hair again?_

I looked around myself to see where I was. It wasn't the hotel room where I was supposed to be. Instead it was a room in a hospital. At least that's what I could make out from seeing all the equipment around. To investigate further, I decide to get up and-

"AAAARGGHH!" I screamed in pain.

"Hikigaya-san..." began the doctor. "What do you think you're trying to do with a leg with such a serious injury?"

"Hah?" My eyes made it's way towards where my legs were supposed to be. I saw one leg resting completely fine, whilst the other was suspended along with large amounts of bandages. "What... is going on?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Hikigaya-san?" asked the doctor. "You've just been in a car accident and heavily injured your leg." _Car accident... eh? What the hell is going on?_

I looked at my arms. They looked pale and weak. They didn't look like arms of a twenty-four year-old man. This could only mean one thing...

"Excuse me... doctor-san..." I started. "... what happened to me?"

"Well... after the crash you were brought here by an ambulance. You've been sleeping for a long time and whilst you were asleep, there were two words you kept murmuring. Something along the lines of 'Yukinoshita' and 'Yuigahama'."

"These sound like names." said my mother.

"Ohoho onii-chan... who are these people?" asked Komachi. _Wait... a minute... so everything was... just a dream. I'm still fifteen and everything I witnessed up until the road trip was nothing but a dream?_

"Oh... umm... Yuigahama was the owner of the dog who I saved. And Yukinoshita was in the car that crashed into me." My reply didn't go down well. Everyone looked confused at what I said, especially my dad.

"Hachiman..." he began. "... the dog you saved didn't have an owner and the car that crashed into you was driven by a drunk man with no one else inside the car." _WHAT! THE! FU-_

*RING* *RING* *RING* _Eh?_

*RING* *RING* *RING* _Dafuq?_

*RING* *RING* *RING*

In a single snap, the entire atmosphere morphed. I couldn't see a thing anymore and neither could I hear anything... except that goddamn ringing noise. _Now don't tell me that I've gone back into time all the way to me being born. But then where's the ringing noise coming from? Did I just turn blind instead? In that case where am I? Am I even alive?_

The questions were answered once I successfully opened my eyes. I could see everything perfectly again. I kept searching for the source of that ringing and ended up stopping at the sight of my phone. Now I'm quite sure that the phone I'm looking at isn't the phone I had when I was fifteen. After switching off the ringing alarm, I paused and looked around once again. _A hotel room eh? So the hospital thing was just a dream._

Just to make completely sure, I looked at my arms again. _YES! ALL THE HAIR IS THERE! I'M DEFINITELY 24! So it was a dream then... pheewww_

* * *

It has been quite a few days since the start of the trip. Touring a country was far more tiring than you'd expect. Even though it's as small as Japan. Imagine the lives of people who set out touring their own country then realised how large it is. _Praise the lord I'm not Russian. Sorry to dear translator-san._ **[1]**

Our next destination was Sendai in the Miyagi prefecture. So far we had finished touring the south and the extreme north. We were on our way back towards the middle-east of the country where Tokyo lies.

"Good morning. How was breakfast?" I greeted Yuigahama and Yukinoshita near the entrance of the hotel.

"It was great!" replied Yuigahama. "However..."

"However what?"

"Yukinon didn't have any."

"Ehh... why?" I turned to Yukinoshita and asked.

"Well..." she began. "I've had way too much to eat recently. I've decided to go on a diet."

"But still you should've eaten something."

"Well I had some bread. Yuigahama-san was exaggerating when she said I didn't eat anything."

"But still... you should be having more than that. It's breakfast. It's where you break your fast." * _Ba dum tsss...*_

"I must respect your skills at generating puns but I'll have to remind you that I'm on a diet... I'm not fasting."

"Same thing."

"Not really."

"Tch. Whatever..."

"And I find it quite disgusting that you seem to be caring far too much about my health."

"Well yes you're right. I care about your health because as long as your healthy you won't die. So please die already."

"Really? That's not what it seemed like from what you were saying before."

"Well I-"

"AHEM!" interrupted the pink-haired airhead. "I require the two of you to acknowledge my existence." Myself and Yukinoshita looked at each other for a second, with one common response in mind...

"Well done... you said some big words there." we said.

"Mouuu you guys need to stop this. I'm not even that dumb." _Well..._

"Are you sure about that?" I asked.

She simply nodded her head whilst still maintaining her pouting expression.

"In that case..." I began. "What's pi?"

"Pie? Like apple pies? Cream pies?"

"Okay stop right there." I faced my palm towards her to avoid her from naming all the 'pies' in the world. "Anyways let's get going."

"3.14159265359" _Who was that?_

"Yukinoshita, was that you?"

"No it wasn't." she replied. "It's strange. I also think I heard a female voice."

"Indeed. I wonder where it came from..."

"It almost seemed like Yuigahama-san."

"I know, right. It did sound like her. No way that it was her."

"HIKKI! YUKINON!" shrieked Yuigahama.

"Yes Yuigahama-san." responded Yukinoshita. "Are you willing to help us find that mysterious being who sounds like you and accurately said the value of pi up until eleven decimal points?"

"It was me!"

"Yuigahama-san, we're trying to have a genuine relationship where lies aren't appreciated."

"I'll say it again then... 3.14159265359."

"OH MY GOD it's that mysterious creature again."

"YUKINON! IT'S ME!"

"Oh... hey Yuigahama-san. Did you hear someone say eleven digits of pi right now?"

"IT WAS ME!"

"Well..." I intervened. "It did sound like it came from you but it wasn't you."

"What do you mean? Who else could it be then?"

"Your voice actor?"

"In that case it's your voice actor who's speaking right now as well."

"And all of us only look this way because of the artists." added Yukinoshita.

The three of us looked at each other in shock and said in unison...

"Shit we don't exist."

But wait a minute... there's no voice or drawing involved in this story. In that case...

DAMN YOU, SHITTY AUTHOR!

* * *

Once we checked out of the hotel, the journey to the ancient city of Sendai began. This is the bit where I give a brief explanation about what there is to see in the city, but I left Yukipedia to do it instead.

"Okay... the city of Sendai is the capital of the Miyagi prefecture. It is the largest city in the Tōhoku region. Things to see there are the Aoba castle, Sendai city museum, Taga castle, Ōsaki Hachimangū, the Yama-dera and then we can do a bit of a city tour."

"Wait wait wait... what the hell is Hachimangu?"

"A shrine."

"But still... it's got my name in it."

"If it helps then I'd like to remind you then there are Yukinoshita and Yuigahama orthopedic clinics in Kamakura in the Kanagawa prefecture. There's also a Yuigahama station. In fact, there's a beach named Isshiki in the Miura district which is in the Hayama Kanagawa prefecture. Furthermore, there's even a Zaimokuza dentistry clinic. What do you say now, Hachimangu?"

"But isn't there another shrine called the 'Hachiman shrine' in the Totsuka ward?"

"Yes there is but-"

"I rest my case. I don't care which places share the same name as yours but Totsuka is everything. Hachiman shrine is in the Totsuka ward... and I'm happy to be inside Totsuka."

"Hikigaya-kun, you do realise what you just said, right?"

"What?"

"Nevermind."

"Well then, about the city tour... I presume there will be quite a lot of walking involved."

"Well probably. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you might collapse after having eaten barely anything."

"Hikigaya-kun, you show concern for my health one more time then I'll have to consider it as a confession."

"Heh... as if..." To be honest, I kept questioning Yukinoshita's decision to go on a diet mainly because I couldn't understand why. There was no indication of her gaining weight. This is one of the main reasons I'll never be able to understand women. They go on a diet even if they gain like 0.5 grams. That doesn't go for all women though. The women who genuinely have more weight at least don't freak out by negligible changes in their weight. Unfortunately these women are mostly unpopular and don't have too many friends. #respecteveryoneregardlessoftheirgenderorweightorheightorsexualityorraceorethnicityorageorallmeansofdiscrimination

There is a slight controversy when it comes to fat women though. Usually fat women are considered unattractive... however the fattest parts of a woman's body are what people find most attractive.

Anyways... where was I? Oh yeah... Yukinoshita gaining weight. I mean... imagine if Yukinoshita was actually fat. I simply cannot imagine something like that. The day that Yukinoshita genuinely gains weight will be the day that Yuigahama actually spells the word 'rhythm' correctly.

"Hikki... Yukinon..." began Yuigahama. "I've been trying to learn musical key terms in English and I can finally spell 'rhythm'. 'R' 'H' 'Y' 'T' 'H' 'M'." _HOOOOLLLYYYY SHIIIIT YUKINOSHITA IS OBESE!_

"English musical terms, eh?" I asked. "You seem to be singing English songs better than I'd have expected you to. Can you actually speak English?"

"Nope. But when it comes to songs you can just memorise the lyrics without having to know the meaning of the lyrics. The only thing I've been working on is the accent. Singing an English song with a Japanese accent sounds weird so mama helped me practice some sort of American accent so that I don't sound too weird onstage."

"Wait so your mother..."

"Yes... mama used to live in America once."

"But still... remember the auditions? The guy said how it seemed like you meant the lyrics."

"Oh... that... I just took it one step further by asking mama for the meaning of the lyrics so that I can produce that sort of performance."

"I'll have to say though... I'm quite surprised you went for such a depressing song. I'd have expected you to sing something cheerful. There must be some special reason why you went for that song."

"Well... umm..."

"Yuigahama-san..." interrupted Yukinoshita. _Why you gotta interrupt now?_ "... have you considered what career you would pursue if the competition doesn't go too well?"

"Umm... I don't know. Hikki what do you think I should be?"

"A pilot." I replied.

"HAAAH did Hikki just compliment me?! Thanks but pilot isn't really-"

"I didn't compliment you." I interrupted. "I only recommend you to become a pilot because that's how much of an airhead you are."

"..."

"..."

My statement was greeted with silence. Until Yuigahama spoke...

"Hikki... what's wrong with your jokes?"

"Seriously Hikigaya-kun, I didn't expect them to be that bad. They're almost as bad as Totsuka-san's hairstyle." added Yukinoshita. _Yeah she's definitely obese._

"How dare you talk like that about Totsuka's hairstyle!" I replied with my blood boiling after how disrespectful she was towards Totsuka's beautiful and magnificently glamorous hair.

"So what if I did..."

"I'll kill you."

"Regardless of how many times you talk negatively about my affection towards cats, I never threaten your life, do I?" _You probably have..._

"Don't compare cats with Totsuka! Cats are simply four-legged animals who put this cute facade on then have annoying mood swings. Trust me I know."

"It's incorrect for you to generalise cats like that. There are many different species of cats between the north pole and the south pole of this planet that don't necessarily have annoying mood swings."

"I'm sorry but they still seem very bi-polar to me." _*Ba dum tsss...*_

"Hikigaya-kun, kindly refrain from making puns for the remainder of your life."

"But why though? You like pan-san so what's wrong with pun-san?"

"Another word from your mouth and I'll..."

"What will you do? Eat me? But you're on a diet though..."

"HI-KI-GA-YAAAA-" _Wait a minute... since when did she become Hiratsuka-sensei?_

"YUKINON! LOOK! I found a book!" interrupted Yuigahama. _Nice save... but wait... what book?_

"Hah?" Yukinoshita backed off and investigated what I presumed was the book Yuigahama had found in my car. _It better not be..._

"Ooooohh... Hikki has been writing songs." _NOOOOOO!_

"Let me see... Yuigahama-san." _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

There was a moment of silence whilst the two read the book where I once wrote songs as part of an assignment.

 _Please... don't... read... it out..._

"My service... is heartbreaking..." **[2]** _NOOOOOOO!_ "... my loneliness drives me crazy for you." _STOOOOP IIIIIT!_ "... I wonder... why you're shaking..." _AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH THE CRRIIIINGE!_ "... I'm not gonna serve nobody... I'm not gonna serve nobody but you." _SOMEONE KILL ME NOW!_

"Hikki..." began Yuigahama.

"Y-Yes?"

"This is really bad!"

"Trust me if you sing it rather than just saying it then it wouldn't sound all so bad."

"Why did you do it anyway?"

"It was an assignment. After I completed it, I hid it in my car so that I wouldn't find it again." _What's with Yuigahama finding random and private things hidden in my car?_

"But still..." stated Yukinoshita. "I'd have expected your songs to be about how youth is a lie... and evil. But to see you writing romantic songs is truly and utterly... disgusting."

"Listen..." I retorted. "The assignment was to write lyrics of a song that might be popular. Considering how pretty much every popular song these days have romantic themes to them, I had to write songs that sound romantic."

"But... still..." Slowly and eventually Yukinoshita bursts into laughter. _I mean... she shouldn't be laughing so much. She doesn't have too many calories to burn anyway._

"But you know what..." Yuigahama seemed somewhat surprisingly impressed. "It's a good skill. Being able to write songs. And I bet with good tune, Hikki's song would sound great!" _A bit too optimistic there..._ "Hikki... I wanna learn how to write songs." _EEHH?!_

"Listen Yuigahama... I'd recommend you to focus on singing rather than song-writing. You don't necessarily have to be a great song-writer if you make it as a great singer. If you really want to write songs then you can do it after the outcome of this competition."

"But still... I wanna try it!"

Feeling reluctant, I let out a sigh and said... "Fine. But before you get into writing songs, you must start off somewhere basic. Like poems."

"Poems?"

"That's right... poems. Now the most popular use of poems are the 'Roses are red, violets are blue' ones. So why don't you try making one?"

"Okay then...  
Roses are red...  
Violets are blue...  
I don't know English...  
BHAM BHAWAKAMBAMBOOOO" _Bamboo?_

"Okay that was inhumane... Yukinoshita, why don't you try it then?"

"Well..." hesitated Yukinoshita. "Okay then...  
Rose are red...  
Here's something new...  
Violets are violet...  
And not really blue."

"No no no... you seem to have the wrong idea. The imagination is there but it needs to be something you'd say to someone."

"Does it really?"

"Let's just try it, shall we?"

"Fine then...  
Roses are red...  
Violets are blue...  
I have five fingers...  
And the middle one's for you." _Okay she's hopeless..._

"Again... another great poem in my opinion but it's not something that would appeal too much to the general audience. That's the whole point of this exercise."

"Why don't you show us how it's done?"

"Don't really want to."

"No no no... you must."

"Umm...  
Roses are red...  
Violets are blue...  
Yahari ore no seishun love come wa machigatteiru."

"..."

"..."

My poem was greeted by a similar reaction.

"Hikki..."

"Hikigaya-kun..."

"What?" I asked.

"That was really bad." said Yukinoshita with her frighteningly cold voice. "Why do you think that you can teach us whilst being so rubbish yourself?"

"I warned you that I wouldn't be of much help."

"Should've taken that warning..."

And so ended the long and annoying conversation in the car as we made our way closer to Sendai.

* * *

After the long and tiresome tour of the city, we were finally on our way to the hotel.

The three of us were absolutely knackered. I wasn't willing to drive anymore. But then again... if Yukinoshita was to drive then we wouldn't reach the hotel before my life ends. On the other hand if Yuigahama was to drive, then I would be calling my parents to wish them the eternal goodbye already.

Before I knew it, the two of them were asleep in the back seat. Okay now this was awkward. The two of them were sleeping as if they had never slept before in their lives. Them sleeping wasn't the problem. The problem was that I looked like a typical kidnapper and I felt scared that any second a police car would stop in front of me to investigate what was going on. I was half-tempted to create a poster and stick it in front of my car that says 'I'M NOT A KIDNAPPER OR A RAPIST' but then again that level of stupidity is something even Yuigahama is better than.

I remember when Komachi slept in the car but her being my sister, I didn't feel so awkward. Now that we're on the topic of Komachi, she has been persistently texting me saying how she misses me already. Normally when relationships bring more sorrow than happiness, I'd rather end them. But that doesn't work in family relationships. If you want to end a friendship, you can simply go and tell them about it. If you want to end a romantic relationship, you can pretty much do the same thing but with more intensity to it. If you want to end a husband/wife relationship, all you have to do is sign some divorce papers and make sure your partner signs them too. But if you want to end a relationship with your sibling, all you can do is go back in time and make sure that your parents have two less bottles of alcohol that night. _WAIT NO! DON'T THINK ABOUT TIME TRAVEL HACHIMAN! THAT WRETCHED DREAM..._

 _But surely... that was just a stupid dream... it's not as if it would really hold any significance in this chapter..._

* * *

 **Yui POV**

"Yuigahama-san..." _Who's talking?_ "Yuigahama-san..." _Why does it sound like some old man?_ "YUIGAHAMA-SAN!"

I opened my eyes slower than Hikki's wi-fi connection. _Now don't ask me why I know the wi-fi connection speed in Hikki's house. It was just when I went to visit Komachi-chan okay?_

I could see two faces. One belonging to a doctor and the other belonging to mama. _But why does she look so young?_

"YUI! YOU'RE AWAKE!" said mama as she firmly wrapped her arms around me, however making sure she doesn't make contact with my head. _Now that I mention it... there's this weird pain at the back of my head._

"Why... am I here?" were the words that softly came out of my mouth. _Seriously though... did Hikki crash the car or something..._

"Well..." began the doctor. "You witnessed the car accident that took your dog's life therefore you fainted on the spot. The back of your head landed on the footpath hence you came down with a concussion."

"Concussion?"

"That's right. Concussion... temporary unconsciousness or confusion and other symptoms caused by a blow on the head." _Dafuq did he just say?_

 _Dumb people tips 3: If listening to someone talk about complicated things whilst on the brink of falling sleep yourself... just fall asleep._

That was exactly what I was about to do until I spotted something weird in what he said before.

"My dog? But Sablé was already dead though..."

"What do you mean, Yui?" asked mama.

"Sablé died two years ago and I cried a lot. Don't you remember?"

"Two years ago? You went with him for a jog this very morning." _Wait... a minute..._

I stared at my... chest and I instantly realised... _I'M 15!_

So this was the first day of high school. The day that the car accident happened. But wait a minute... Sablé didn't die though...

"What exactly happened?" I asked.

"Well..." began mama. "You went for a jog with your dog then you lost control of him. A car was being driven recklessly so it crashed into your dog which caused him to die." So Hikki wasn't able to save Sablé. So what happened to him? Is he alright? "One more thing..." mama continued. "For some reason you kept saying the names 'Hikki' and 'Yukinon' whilst you were unconscious."

"Oh... Hikki was the one who tried to save my dog and Yukinon was a girl in the car that crashed into Sablé and Hikki." For some reason, mama and the doctor looked at me with a confused expression after what I had said.

"Yui..." responded mama. "... there was no one who went to save the dog. And the car that crashed into your dog was driven by a drunk man and no one else was inside the car with him."

 _WAIT A MINUTE... SO EVERYTHING WAS JUST A DREAM! IN REALITY THERE'S NO HIKKI AND NO YUKINON!_

 _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

There was a sudden change in my surroundings. All I could see now was darkness. _Did I turn blind?_

That question was answered once I successfully opened my eyes. I could now see the back of a seat. I rotated my head to examine my surroundings further. Hikki was driving the car whilst Yukinon was sleeping. _Yessss... that was just a dream..._

But just to make sure, I examined the size of my chest... _OKAY... I'M 24... so it was a dream after all..._

There was no way I could go back to sleep after that sort of dream. I didn't make any noise as such thus Hikki didn't get notified that I had woken up.

I turned right to see Yukinon still sleeping. She can be ruthless when she's awake but she can look really innocent when she's asleep. And I'm sure even Hikki would agree with me on that. After the dream I had right now... I could only wonder...

 _What is Yukinon dreaming about?_

* * *

 **Yukino POV**

"Yukino-chan..." _Who's voice is it which produces decibels that reach my ear?_ "Yukino-chan..." _It does sound something preposterously similar to the voice that belongs to my biological sister. I really need to stop doing monologues like this. People know I'm intelligent. There's no need to over-exaggerate._ "YUKINO-CHAN!" _What the hell is nee-san doing here?_

I opened my eyes slower than Hikigaya-kun's wi-fi connection. _Now don't ask me why I know the velocity of the internet connection that serves the Hikigaya household. It was just when I went to visit darling Kamakura okay?_

In my line of sight, were my sister and the driver of my car. _I'm pretty sure that the driver is supposed to have white hair. And why does nee-san look so young? And where's her wedding ring? But most importantly... why are they here?_

"YUKINO-CHAAN! YOU'RE FINALLY AWAKE!" screamed nee-san as she wrapped her arms firmly around me.

"Why... are you two here?" I asked.

"What do you mean, Yukino-chan?"

"Where's Hikigaya-kun and Yuigahama-san?" Nee-san stared at me with a surprised expression whilst the driver simply backed off.

"Yukino-chan..." responded nee-san. "Who's Hikigaya-kun and Yuigahama-san?"

"Seriously? You've forgotten them already?"

"Forgotten who? I have no idea what you're talking about but we need to hurry up. That accident really delayed us. You can't be late on your first day of high school!" _High school? Wait a minute..._

I examined my hair... and its length... _OH MY GOD I'M 15!_

"Nee-san..."

"Yes?"

"What happened?"

"We crashed into a dog whilst on our way to your school. You were sleeping but for some reason you didn't wake up so I got worried. It was an unfortunate accident but oh well..."

"What about the owner of the dog and the guy who tried to save the dog?"

For some reason nee-san was confused at my statement. "What the hell are you talking about?" she said. "The dog had no owner and no one came to save the dog. It simply died after we unfortunately crashed into it."

 _Wait a minute... so everything up until the road trip was nothing but a dream? Was it all just one long dream where I actually get saved from these shackles of society and family problems? That means... in truth Hikigaya-kun or Yuigahama-san never existed?_

 _Please... please someone tell me this is not real..._

 _Please... please... plea-_

"Yukinoshita?" _Heh?_

"Yukinoshita?" _Sounds like a very familiar voice..._

"Yukinoshita we've arrived at the hotel you need to wake up." _VERY familiar voice..._

"Yukinoshita don't tell me you died of hunger." _He showed concern for my health... surely... surely that's a confession..._

For some reason all my brain cells began to malfunction. Instinctively, I got so happy at seeing his face again, my arms reached out towards his head. I had lost complete control of my actions and before I knew it...

"AAAAHHHH YUKINON WHY ARE YOU KISSING HIKKI?!" screamed Yuigahama-san which made me realise what I had done. But it was too late...

My lips had made contact with his and it was clearly obvious that I was the one who initiated this. I don't know why but I just didn't let go of him. What I was more surprised about, is that he didn't do anything about it as well. We remained like that for a few seconds.

Once my brain cells began functioning properly again, I instantly let go of Hikigaya-kun's face. He stared at me with a shocked expression whilst being flustered at the same time.

"Yukinoshita..." he mumbled.

I didn't know what to do. I contemplated on whether to portray this as a mistake or whether to revisit those feelings which I thought I had abandoned all those years ago.

Regardless of however hard I tried, I couldn't reach a conclusion.

 _What have I done?_

 _What have I done?_

 _What have I-_

"Yukinon?" _Heh?_

"Yukinon?" _Why are my eyes closed all of a sudden?_

"Yukinon wake up we've reached the hotel." _This is... Yuigahama-san's voice. But why did the atmosphere change all of a sudden? Why isn't she shocked anymore?_

I managed to open my eyes and saw Yuigahama-san's face this time. _Oh... it was another dream._

"Yukinon, are you okay?"

"Yes... I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"That's because you were saying Hikki's name whilst you were asleep."

"HAAAAH?"

"Yes yes it totally scared Hikki and now he thinks you dream about how to kill him." _So typical of him..._

Whatever transpired in the dreams and in real life all of a sudden felt irrelevant. Because I felt something... something special. Something that I haven't felt so extremely before. This feeling was powerful beyond belief. More powerful than I can ever imagine. This was the feeling I expected myself to feel at the start of today but didn't expect it to be so extreme. I felt...

... hungry.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **: Oooooh quick update! Well considering that there's no ongoing sports competitions that take my time and also the fact that it's a one week holiday right now, I was able to type this chapter up rather quickly. AND WE'VE REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS! Thanks a lot to everyone who reads my fics and even more thanks to those who follow/favourite/review. Let me just put this out there... if you're reading this and this story has less than 100 followers, that means that some people unfollowed... not that I predicted it to be at 100 followers in advance. To be honest, I expected the last chapter to get this fic to 100 followers but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. With all that aside, hopefully you liked this chapter. Some bits may seem rushed so please forgive me on that. As you can probably tell, the last two chapters don't have an excessive use of foul language. Even I felt like 'duck' and 'f*ck' were becoming over-used and especially after KairuG accurately pointed it out, I've decided to limit the use of these words.**_

 _ **As for the whole dream thing, it has happened to me plenty of times but I don't know if it has happened to any of you. So basically in some of my dreams, I start thinking how the dream is real life and that everything that happened in real life was a dream. So that's pretty much what I did with the characters' dreams.**_

 _ **AND NO... I'm not gonna make Yukino kiss Hachiman just like that! Credit to anyone who predicted the kiss to be another dream rather than reality.**_

 _ **Response to reviews:**_

 _ **1)**_ _ **JustReader17: I'm sorry about that. Yes I did use Google translate as I'm not Indonesian. Hopefully it's not a big problem. Anyways, I have replaced the words so thanks for pointing that out.**_

 _ **2) The guest with the extra long review: I have to say I'm flattered that you spent your own time to write this review so I'm really thankful towards you for that. Anyways... I'll have to start by saying that all the points that you've mentioned are completely valid points. After reading your review several times, I figured that there are 3 main points that you're trying to convey...  
(i)Yui shouldn't be able to sing/understand English songs so well: Well I guess I have established in this chapter that she has been practicing the accent somewhat with her mother. And trust me, 6 years is more than enough time to perfect an accent. That's not just a hypothesis, that's something I've seen happen multiple times in front of my own eyes. Furthermore I'm not implying that Yui has perfected the American accent... it's just that her accent is somewhere along the lines of American. However that doesn't mean she has mastered the language though. This is where I'll have to use an example of a real-life band. There's a Japanese rock band named ONE OK ROCK. Majority of their songs have parts in English. Some of their songs are fully English. You could take my word for it or you could go and listen to them yourself. Anyways... the quality of English they use isn't great but at the same time it's definitely decent. Similarly, the lead singer's accent isn't perfectly American, but it doesn't sound laughable. Now you'd expect them to understand English to a certain extent. But in fact, in an interview, they couldn't even understand when the interviewer asked them "What inspired you to come to America?" Now that's what I'm trying to portray Yui as. If she knows what she has to say, she may sound like someone who knows English decently well, but in fact she doesn't. The point here is that one can sing English songs well despite lacking 100% pronunciation or knowledge of the language. As for why Yui wants to become a pop star in Japan... well I guess the fact that she doesn't really know English too well explains that as well. But as for how she found out about the songs... as for the first one, it's likely that her mother taught her that after maybe finding out about her love experience with Hikki. As for the second one... the one Hikki put on in the car... she didn't sing when the first stanza and chorus were played, so once the second stanza began, she grasped the general tune of the song therefore she was able to murmur it to an extent. But then eventually when the pre-chorus began, she knew what to sing as she had heard it the first time round therefore she did so.  
(ii)Hachiman shouldn't have an Audi: I'm not even gonna try and justify myself for this one. The reason why I went for the Audi is probably because I didn't do enough research and felt rather lazy about it. Hopefully that doesn't come across as a huge problem in this fic.  
(iii)Hachiman shouldn't know English songs: I did also mention in the previous chapter that Hachiman does know English. It's just that he isn't capable of having a full-on conversation with someone who's proper English. I'll use myself as an example for this one. I know French rather well. I can speak it with someone who is in the same French class as me but I cannot have a full-on conversation with an actual French-speaking person. Similarly with Japanese. I can guarantee you that there are many who can speak Japanese fairly well as part of being in the anime community however would be unable to have an actual conversation with a Japanese person. I personally, listen to plenty of Japanese songs. I even understand what some of them mean. In fact, I can even sing quite a few of them. But that doesn't mean I'm a confident Japanese speaker. The same goes for Hachiman. He might not be able to hold a conversation with the English man, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't understand English songs at all. Now I know that blink-182 isn't a very popular band. But think about it... the song is called 'Bored to death'. That doesn't sound like something Hachiman wouldn't ever discover. This is where you mentioned how Hachiman shouldn't really be able to discover all these different types of songs because he probably doesn't keep up with the pop culture. But I disagree with you on that one. In the anime there are plenty of times where Hachiman is seen listening to music. And I do believe loners tend to listen to music more than others, so I don't think it's impossible for Hachiman to come across more and more songs, even from different languages.**_

 _ **Well that was a long response. Hopefully you understand whatever I'm trying to say. If you seem unconvinced by any of my statements or simply have more points to say regarding my fic, feel free to leave another review.**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] _I've got a Russian translator for this story as many of you know._**

 **[2] _These aren't 100% original lyrics. These are the lyrics taken from the chorus of 'Worship' by Years and Years except I've changed few of the words. I didn't include this song reference in the story like I did in the previous chapter because they don't really sing it, they just say it out._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Chapter 8**

All good things must come to an end. And I'm not gonna lie but this road trip was definitely one of the positive highlights of my rather boringly eventful life. _Am I even making any sense here?_

Anyways, why did I say that bit you ask? Well... today is the last day of the trip and by the end of today we'll be at Tokyo. As of now, my agenda includes...

1) Drop Yukinoshita and Yuigahama at Yukinoshita's house. I do believe Yuigahama's decision to live with her dear Yukinon for the time being is a good decision. That's because the competition only lasts for a few more weeks so there's literally no point renting out some sort of apartment. The logical reason out of the way... the main reason why it's a good decision is that if Yukinoshita was to live completely alone in an enormous house which she'll presumably have, she's likely to assemble some sort of feline corporation which will be destined to rule every corner of this planet. _I can only fear for what happens after Yuigahama leaves._

2) Get my own accommodation sorted. I've been assigned to an apartment by the guys who invited me here but I need to get there first before I get the major stuff transported here from my parents' house. _Heh... "parents' house"... it feels like I was in a pram eight minutes ago and now all of a sudden I'm not even living in the same house as the ones who put me in that goddamn pram. Good question though... who put me in that goddamn pram where a bird left its excretion in?_ Now I know people across the world are victims of birds' uncontrollable anuses every second but when it comes to sis-contency I MEAN CONSISTENCY, I strongly believe I'm up there with the performance of the Chandrawhatverthefucktheguysaid exclusive condoms that the guy advertised to me whilst I was trying to get a hitch-hike. I mean... my history with bird excretion is so bad... that every time I open a can of MAX COFFEE, I feel fearful about the prospect that there might be a bird somewhere in South America who released a nice sloppy pile of excrement that is probably making its way across the Pacific, getting bounced up by some lovely sharks, then gliding its way towards the hole of my can. You see... my fear of bird excretion is so bad that I end up defying the laws of physics. And then before you know it, a nice Japanese bird shit has already reached the depths of the divine can. This is where the unfairness of the world kicks in. My poor soul has endured so much of this bullshit(or should I say birdshit), but on the other hand I see people like Yukinoshita who have never had that misfortune. The only reason why I'm certain of that... is that I haven't seen the US and the North Korean army charging into the city looking for a bird. _Heh... started off talking about my accommodation then ended up talking about US and North Korean armies. Not bad at all..._

3) Prepare for the first day at the workplace. It would be one of the biggest trolls if I end up not getting the job and get sent back to Chiba. But no... I feel confident. And no... I'm not following this with another speech.

4) The fact that it'll take some time for me to settle down, I'm gonna have to figure out the distance and the route between my apartment and Yukinoshita's house. Mainly because she's offered to take care of my dinners for the time being. Speaking of catwoman, she still refuses to stop dieting. Hence she's fallen asleep pretty much every time we've been driving towards the hotel in the evening. It wasn't really a problem except that one time where she kept saying my name. I strongly believed she dreamed about how to bring my life to an end however slowly my suspicions expired. Anyways, the problem now with Yukinoshita sleeping is that as long as she's asleep, I won't be fed. The fact that she still hasn't woken up worries me that I'll have to go to my new apartment with an empty stomach.

"WAKE UP! YUKINOSHITA WAKE UP!" I raised my voice however she looked too fatigued to even move. We had reached her house however she refused to wake up and actually go inside her house. There was only one thing we could do...

"Hikki..." began Yuigahama. "You take her legs, I'll take her arms." We had to carry her inside.

"Not a good idea." I replied. "If both of us carry her then we'll have problems carrying her through doors. We need someone to open the doors and make space."

"In that case... one of us has to carry her and the other has to make way for the other."

"That's right."

For some reason Yuigahama held an expression that indicated that she knew who was to do which role. She began going through Yukinoshita's bag and took out a key.

"Hikki... hurry up."

"Hurry up and what?"

"Pick her up."

"Why me? You pick her up."

"EEHHH! But I'm a woman. You're supposed to do these sort of things."

"Not necessarily."

"But why am I supposed to carry Yukinon?"

"Rock paper scissors?"

"Eh?"

"The best way to decide an argument."

 _Rock..._

 _Paper..._

 _Scissors..._

 _Shit I lost..._

"Fine I'll do it." I reluctantly picked Yukinoshita up much to Yuigahama's relief but annoyance at the same time. We made our way towards the house which looked pretty darn attractive I'll have to admit.

Yuigahama opened the front door and held it for me which allowed me to bring the sleeping specimen inside. The house was already furnished and habitable thus I placed her on an empty couch. After doing so, I instantly went back to make sure my car was locked and secure. In the process I brought some necessary requirements such as MAX COFFEE and MAX COFFEE.

It was already quite late, however the only reason why I stayed at Yukinoshita's house for the time being was for the food she promised me. Now that was a problem. Because Yukinoshita can't exactly cook whilst sleeping. _I'm saying it as if other people can._ I had money to go and get my own food but there was not a single cell in my body that wanted me to move. That same excuse goes for why I didn't want to get up and cook something myself. On the other hand letting Yuigahama cook would also be very unwise mainly because I know less painful ways of committing suicide. As you can probably tell, the scene was something like this...

One woman sleeping soundly on a sofa whilst two peasants slouched off in another. It was only a matter of time until my eyes would shut down as well. In that case, the plan now is to fall asleep, then-

"Hikki..."

As I was saying, the plan is to fall asleep, stuff myself up next morning, then-

"Hikki..."

Then-

"HIKKI!"

"What?"

"I can't sleep."

"Why?"

"I slept in the car and now I don't really feel sleepy anymore."

"Brilliant! Collect your Nobel prize and now let me sleep."

"But Hikki... I'm hungry."

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

"You can cook, can't you?"

"You seem to be forgetting something. The plan was for Yukinoshita to go and buy something she can come home and cook. There's nothing in this house that I can cook. Unless you like eating chairs then that's not a problem."

"Hikki why don't you go and buy something?"

"Isn't that a bit selfish of you to say so?"

"But I can't go outside now. It's way too dark and I don't even know where to go." _Okay yeah she does have a point._

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but my physical ability to move is about the same as your mental ability to grasp knowledge."

"It's still something!"

"No it really isn't."

"In that case I'll massage your feet."

"No thank you. You need to stop treating me like some fifty year-old man w-w-wait wha-what the h-hell do you think you're doing?!"

Yuigahama had approached my poor feet and started massaging them with her tiny hands. To be honest, it was probably the best and the worst massage I've ever got. _In other words, that's_ _the only massage I've ever got._

"Yuigahama... what's wrong with you?"

"What? Can't I do something to help Hikki?"

"Help Hikki? You just want food."

"Well..."

"No 'well'... just admit it."

"Don't lie though... you probably like the massage."

"Well I don't dislike it. But let me just tell you that regardless of what you do, I won't be getting any food. I'm feeling way too sleepy."

 _Wait a minute... this is the bit where Yuigahama's meant to stop massaging me so that I can tell her "Heh... exactly what I expected." but then why is she not?_

As an observer, I can somewhat come to a conclusion that Yuigahama's future husband will be one of the luckiest men on Earth. Firstly, because anyone would be lucky marrying someone as attractive as her. Secondly, the massages. Now this is the bit where I contradict myself by saying her cooking ruins everything but hey... wouldn't that just be another excuse for the guy to have food from outside? _Okay stop me before I do another monologue regarding marriage._

In the midst of my thought, Yuigahama lets out an extended yawn.

"Oi I thought you're not feeling sleepy." I said.

"Mama always told me if I do something boring for a long time then I'll feel sleepy." _So that's the reason for you to massage my feet._

"In that case it would be good if we go to sleep now. Tomorrow we'll feed ourselves properly. Cool?"

"Yup."

Seeing how there were two bedrooms in the house, we carried Yukinoshita to one of them and made space in the same bed for Yuigahama to sleep next to her whilst I had the other bedroom all for myself. HA HA HAAAA

After a quick change of clothes, I was already on the bed and before I knew it... my eyes were shut.

* * *

In the middle of the night...

 _WTF man why dis feel so hot? Weather of Tokyo y u do dis to me? It feels way too stuffy as well for some reason._

At this rate, I was feeling tempted to take my shirt off. _Oh well..._

I closed the door of my room to make sure none of the other two would witness history. The room was now filled with darkness. There wasn't a thing I could see. After taking my shirt off, I blindly navigated towards the bed and jumped on it and stayed there for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next morning...

*RING* *RING* *RING* _Alarm why you in such a hurry? I wanna sleep more you know..._

However the smell of food was what truly made me want to wake up. _Seems like Yukinoshita has woken up early._

The process of waking up takes seconds. However the process of GETTING up can take ages. And no... this is not some unique trait only I possess. Everyone and I repeat EVERYONE has problems actually getting up from the bed. The comfort of the bed was too much to abandon. Besides that... _what the hell is this weight pushing towards me from the back?_

 _I mean all I really have to do is turn around and-_

"AAAHH WHAT THE FUCKING HAKUNAMATATA BLOODY HORSE OF THE FANFICTION WEBSITE ARE YOU DOING HERE YUIGAHAMA?!"

The amplitude of my voice woke up Yuigahama Yui, who for some reason was sleeping in the same bed as me whilst I rolled off to the floor.

"Mmmmm... eh? Oh Hikki you're awake..."

"NO NO NO! YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF WOMAN!" I stood up in order to intimidate her further. In response her cheeks slowly turned redder and redder. I followed her line of sight and-

 _Shit I need to wear something._

After instantly covering my torso with the shirt I removed the night before, I turned my attention back towards Yuigahama.

"W-Well... wh-why a-a-are you in m-my r-roo-oom?"

"Umm... Yukinon was covering the entire bed so I wasn't really able to sleep properly."

"So why didn't you go to the sofa then?"

"Oh..." _If anyone wants a perfect example of stupid... here you go._

"Why would you come into a room which has a door shut?"

"It wasn't shut." _Now it all makes sense. She came here before I shut the door and that's why I felt all stuffy._

"In any case please leave already. I need to get ready."

"Rude Hikki..."

"No no no... you're in the wrong here... I'm not." Yuigahama slowly gets up and makes her way towards the exit.

"Oookkaaaaayyyy- UWAAAAHHH!" But guess what? She stumbles and falls down. _Typical Yuigahama._

Anyways, after a rather embarrassing situation, it was time for me to freshen up, and feed my unfortunate appetite. As you'd expect, Yukinoshita had woken up rather early and cooked food for the three of us. The smell and the sight of the food was way too mesmerizing for me. Myself and Yuigahama sat down at the dining table whilst we waited for Yukinoshita to sort some things out. I must admit however... that Yukinoshita was certainly behaving very awkwardly.

"Hikki..."

"What?"

"It still hurts you know..." In the corner of my eye, I could see Yukinoshita react awkwardly to Yuigahama's statement. I on the other hand, figured out Yuigahama's reference to be directed towards her falling down in my room.

"Well... I don't really care."

"Seriously Hikki you should at least care..." _Why the hell is Yukinoshita reacting so awkwardly? Is something wrong?_

"Well I don't. And please... don't cry over such minimal wounds. I sometimes wonder where your 'growth' is at."

"Hikki and his dead jokes again. Well... when it comes to growth we can only look forward to the future." _Again... what's with Yukinoshita's reaction?_

"Yukinoshita... is something wrong?" I asked.

"Umm... well... umm..." Yukinoshita hesitantly carried on. "I... I was about to congratulate you formally but I'll do it now anyways."

"Congratulate who on what?"

"The two of you... on your relationship of course."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

That same morning...

 **Yukino POV**

It's always good to wake up nice and early with the whole day ahead of you. It somehow boosts your confidence to make full use of the day. On the other hand, waking up late always makes you feel dull about yourself which makes you think about why you woke up so late which later influences your day negatively.

When I woke up, I found myself in a bed. A very unfamiliar bed. A bed so unfamiliar that it wasn't even a bed. It was the floor. However not just any floor. A very unfamiliar floor. A floor I hadn't seen before. My initial thoughts went along the lines of... _what phenomenon brings my existence to lay on this exorbitant flooring?_

But once my vision met an actual bed, I had figured out what might have happened. Now I shouldn't say this but here goes... when I'm in deep sleep, I tend to move quite a lot. It hasn't exactly happened whilst I'm with anyone before, because I presume I've never really been in such a deep sleep too often. _And I haven't really slept next to anyone too often._

However I wasn't yet sure of exactly where I was. Once I navigated my way to the visible living room, I identified certain bags and items of luggage placed there which helped me come to a conclusion that this was my house and Yuigahama-san and Hikigaya-kun probably brought me inside once I fell asleep inside my car... once again. _Speaking of Yuigahama-san and Hikigaya-kun... where are they?_

It would've been reasonable if Hikigaya-kun had left however I don't think that's likely considering how he probably won't leave without claiming the free food I offered him. But Yuigahama-san had no reason to leave so they had to be somewhere.

At this point I saw another door, tightly shut. Now I knew that there would be two bedrooms in the house, and considering how I haven't really come across another room that was a bedroom, that had to be the one.

The fact that it was shut quite obviously meant that whoever occupied that room didn't want to get interrupted. It wasn't ethical... however my curiosity for where the two had gone forced me to go and open it.

Hence I opened the door ever so slowly and quietly...

And there they were. Hikigaya-kun sleeping with his shirt on the floor whilst Yuigahama-san slept closely next to him. _That could only mean one thing..._

It was quite obviously an awkward situation for me to be in. My best friend and the dead-fishy-eyed peasant had slept together. As uncomfortable as it would be, it would only be ethical of me to congratulate them on their relationship. I guess it would be good to do so during breakfast.

Subsequently, I left the house to buy necessary items for today's breakfast and other meals.

By the time I had returned, the realisation had started to settle in. The unpleasant feeling was beginning to take its toll. Nevertheless, I got on with preparing the breakfast. I decided to go with something special. In that way I could change the topic to the food if things get way too awkward in the table.

Soon enough, the new couple had woken up. They didn't waste too much time in freshening up, presumably because they were too hungry considering how they didn't really have a meal yesterday after another tiresome day... and... they'd... also... feel hungry... after... ahem... tiresome activities. _I should really stop thinking about it..._

The two greeted me normally once they sat down at the dining table. _So they don't want to break the news themselves? So they want to hide it from me. I see how it is..._

"Hikki..." spoke Yuigahama-san. Instinctively, I attempted to eavesdrop. Unfortunately with the noise taking place in front of me in the kitchen, the soft and deep voice of Hikigaya-kun wasn't audible to me. On the other hand, the boisterous Yuigahama-san was the only way I could obtain clues as to what their conversation was about. Hence I patiently waited for her to carry on...

"It still hurts you know..." _OH MY GOD... my suspicions are true! Well I did expect them to be true anyway but that just confirms it. But why is she just talking about it openly but doesn't share the news with me?_

Nevertheless, she continued...

"Seriously Hikki you should at least care..." _So Hikigaya-kun doesn't care? What kind of man is he? This doesn't look good..._

However the next thing she said...

"Hikki and his dead jokes again. Well... when it comes to growth we can only look forward to the future." _What? They're thinking about the future already?_

"Yukinoshita... is something wrong?" This voice belonged to Hikigaya-kun. I could hear it because he spoke loudly and clearly enough to address his speech towards me.

"Umm... well... umm..." I replied hesitantly. "I... I was about to congratulate you formally but I'll do it now anyways."

"Congratulate who on what?"

"The two of you... on your relationship of course."

"WHAT?!" shrieked the pair in response.

"Now I know you may have wanted to hide it from me but..." I went on to explain exactly what I saw this morning and what its obvious connotations were. _But I was wrong... miserably._

The two explained to me exactly what had happened and I... in frustration... listened like an uneducated child.

* * *

 **Hachiman POV**

Haha... it's funny when Yukinoshita Yukino makes a mistake... but it's annoying when it's a certain accusation towards me of something I'd never do in 88 years. _Wait no... I might actually live beyond 88 years so 888 years. The number must only have 8s!_

"Ahem..." I cleared my throat to divert the topic onto something useful instead. "Well... I'm going to formally announce that the 'vacation' is over. Now it's serious business. I'll speak of my imminent actions then you two can go next. So after breakfast, I'll leave to firstly go and collect my keys and then move into my apartment. My first day at work is three days from now, I believe that's the same day Yuigahama's next performance is. They'll announce whether I'll be getting the job or not within a week of attending. If I get it great. If I don't... I'll have to probably move in here for a few weeks until I find another job which... not to brag... doesn't seem like a daunting prospect."

"Okay I'll speak next." spoke up Yuigahama. Myself and Yukinoshita now turned our attention towards her for what revolutionary statement she was about to make. "Yukinon the food is great!" _Seriously?_ "Okay... I'll spend all of the next two days practising for the next round of the competition. And there's nothing much apart from that really. If I get through to the next round then I'll spend the next days practising for that, however if I don't then I'll have to find other alternatives."

"Yuigahama..." I began. "... not to make you overconfident but I honestly think you have a great chance of winning this competition."

"EEHH?! Hikki did you just compli- wait a second... is it another one of your insults hidden within a compliment?"

"Well... it is an insult but it's directed towards the show, not you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I'm trying to say is that you have a good chance because you're one of the few people who have passed the auditions as a result of your talent."

At this point, even Yukinoshita looked confused.

"Hikigaya-kun, you fail to make sense here. It's a talent competition. If in case you lack brain cells then let me just tell you that the term 'talent competition' consists of the word 'talent'." she said.

"Well Yukinoshita... I presume you're unaware of a lot of the things that transpire in the auditions for this 'talent competition'. I'd firstly like to rename it from 'talent competition' to 'Competition to see who the judges fall for the most'. Anyways, let me just re-enact what I'm trying to convey here. In these re-enactments, judge 1 will be the judge who actually gives decent criticism regardless of how cruel he sounds. Judge 2 is the female judge and judge 3 is the other, significantly more cheerful male judge. So here we go... example 1...

Competitor performs their act. Doesn't do very well.

Judge 1: _"That was one hell of a nightmare. I don't know what made you audition for this competition but seriously this isn't your thing. You're a bit like an elephant trying to sprint 100 metres faster than Usain Bolt. It's just not in you. It has to be a NO from me." **[1]**_

Judge 2: _"I'm sorry darling but it's a NO from me too."_

Judge 3: _"Well as harsh as it sounds, judge 1 does have a point I'm afraid. So it has to be a-"_

Competitor: _"I just wanna put it out there that last week my mom ate my dad and the next day she died of a heart-attack. On the other hand my sister got adopted by some crocodiles as a result. So I'm here dedicating my performance to my lost family members." *STARTS CRYING*_

Judge 1: _"I'm sorry but it's still a NO from me."_

Judge 2: _*STARTS CRYING* "You know what... you deserve this opportunity. I believe in you to do great things. It's a YES from me!" *GOES AND HUGS COMPETITOR*_

Judge 3: _"My man... you have potential in you. I can see in your heart that you have what it takes to be the winner of Japan's Got Talent! IT'S A YES FROM MEEEEEE!"_

Competitor gets through to next round. Example 2...

A bunch of very good looking and fit male competitors perform. Don't do very well.

Judge 1: _"I actually don't know what to say about this performance. It was kind of like watching a bunch of giraffes trying to kiss their feet whilst reproducing. I mean... unbelievably terrifying. It's a NO from me."_

Judge 2: _"I'm sorry guys. You are indeed very good-looking but that performance wasn't good-looking at all. It's a NO from me."_

Judge 3: _"Well the other two judges have said it all really. I'm sorry but it's also a-"_

Competitors take their shirts off and reveal their torsos _._

Judge 1: _"I don't know what you're trying to achieve here. It's still a NO from me."_

Judge 2: _"Ooooooh baaabyyyyyy! Those abs OH MY GAAWWWWWWD! I can't wait to see more from you guys. It's a YES from me!"_

Judge 3: _*TURNS GAY* "OHHHH YEEAAHHH! On behalf of what the whole nation wants to see... a MASSIVE YES in hopes of seeing more MASSIVE things from you guys!"_

Competitors qualify. And that concludes my re-enactment."

"Hikigaya-kun..." responded Yukinoshita.

"What?"

"I've never been more convinced by anything you've ever said to me before."

"Well thank you... I'll take that as a compliment. Hopefully my point has been conveyed."

"Well in that case I'm the only one left to speak. Well... as of now I'll spend quite a lot of my time helping Yuigahama-san in her preparations. On the other hand, I do have to answer plenty of phone calls and e-mails in preparation for the big meeting coming up. And that's pretty much it from my part."

"In that case..." I finished the last bite of breakfast. "... I'll be on my way."

After all three of us finished the sumptuous meal, I prepared my luggage, made sure none of theirs were in my car, and set off after a nonchalant farewell, aware of the fact that I'll meet them the same night for dinner.

* * *

3 days later...

"Mr Hikigaya Hachiman... welcome to the Yoshitori novel editing company."

Taking one last look at my suit, I stepped inside for what could be the step to my dream.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **: Sup! Another update I guess. The reason for that is probably because I'm not focusing on 'Whatever happened after' too much, although I have now 100% decided on how that fic will end. I have also decided on how this one will end... and it's probably gonna end in like about 4 chapters maybe. I apologise to anyone who wanted to see some sort of plot in this chapter rather than just simple randomness. Well I can guarantee you that the next chapter will include the first day of Hachiman's work and also Yuigahama's performance in the next round of the competition. In case you're wondering what stage of competition this will be, this will be one of 6 semi-finals. There will be 2 winners from each semi-final who will go into the final. Now I don't know if there are supposed to be more rounds than these, but if I try including more rounds, it will simply extend the fic unnecessarily. As for this chapter, hopefully you guys liked it. I know this will seem like another one of those random chapters but then the road trip has ended and they have reached Tokyo. They've also discussed what will be happening soon so hopefully this chapter doesn't seem TOO irrelevant.**_

 _ **As for random things... HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUIGAHAMA YUI! 18/06.**_

 ** _References:_**

 **[1] _Usain Bolt... Jamaican sprinter who currently holds the world record for the fastest 100 metres sprint._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Just a few more votes**

"Right this way Hikigaya-san..." One of the members of staff had been assigned to give me a tour of the workplace. He was a fairly young man who seemed to be in good shape however a female should be able to give a better opinion about how attractive or unattractive he is. Most of all, he seemed very professional with the way he conducted the workplace tour. Appearance wise, he looked about an inch taller than me, with short black hair on his head. He wore a grey suit alongside a black shirt and a dark red tie which wasn't very accurately placed on his collar. I on the other hand, had a plain white shirt accompanied by a black suit and also a navy blue tie, which would probably suffer the same fate as my assistant's tie within a few weeks.

The remainder of workers seemed very focused and dedicated at what they were doing. It was most certainly a peaceful atmosphere for someone like me to work in. Everyone interacted with what looked like a large variety of novels. From the neatness to how organized they were, to even how well they were dressed, there was something about this place that made it stand out. It was most certainly one of the more prestigious workplaces in the city. To think that the CEO of this company would personally invite me is highly flattering.

However, just when I thought that nothing will be able to ruin my optimism towards working here...

"HEY!" screamed a loud male voice. One that didn't belong to my tour assistant.

"Excuse me... do I know you?" I asked in return.

"Buddyyy... I'm another newcomer! My name's Sarutobi Tobi." The figure of another fairly young man appears before me. He looked about a couple of years older than me, had medium-sized blond hair, and a height similar to my assistant. With a smile stretching across his face, I had found a clone of Hayama Hayato.

"Do we know each other?"

"Not yet. But since you're a newcomer as well I presume we'll definitely have some great experiences working together and producing a positive synergy whilst maintaining a good relationship. My intellectual side can come in very handy in situations you feel uncomfortable in. And as a generous person, I like to use the potency of my brain to emit a positive working environment and efficiency." _Who is this waste of zygote?_

"Well let me inform you that I'm in no need of assistance." I attempted to walk away with my assistant however that guy was persistent.

"Excuse me... let ME inform YOU that I've been invited to come here from all the way in Osaka. I've been INVITED here. Unlike others who just try and join with their own effort. Don't try to act superior, okay buddy?" _I swear I'm going to RKO him from outta nowhere._ **[1]**

A part of me was suggesting that whatever this guy is doing is just to provoke me into losing my calm and overreacting. Maybe because he knew... that I'm probably the only one apart from him who's been 'invited'. _I see... this is a game... and I like it..._

"It seems like I haven't introduced myself." I returned. "My name's Hikigaya Hachiman. And that's about it." I signaled my assistant that we'll be leaving. However there was one last thing the guy had to say...

"In that case... HIKIGAYA HACHIMAN... there's a newcomer's introduction day that will be held within a a few days. Hopefully you have a good speech. You don't want to come across as a show off... do you?" _This guy..._

"People like you telling others to not show off... is a bit hypocritical... won't you say? Considering how every time a word comes out of your mouth your status turns from an ordinary worker to some sort of God... who... if he wanted to could get everyone in this place fired." **[2]**

"I'm sure the rest of this place doesn't share your opinion Hikigaya-san."

"Maybe my dead fish eyes and me... have a bad history with... pretentious blond freaks." The two of us stare at each other with malicious grins on both of our faces.

"Boys..." A deep voice breaks the staring contest. With my attention now towards the source of the voice, I accurately identified the man to be Yoshitori Yoshi, the CEO himself. "HAH! Sarutobi Tobi meets Hikigaya Hachiman. I love it! I love bringing people together! How are we?" He fixes his vision towards me as if I'm to be the first one to reply.

"Good." I replied nonchalantly. CEO-san turned towards Mr Tamanawa Hayato, expecting a reply from him. His reply...

"Ahh! The phrase 'how are we?' connects to my inner literature addiction. The use of the word 'we' rather than 'you' certainly connotes formality and coming from the CEO of this prestigious company, I feel enlightened and excited about the prospect that I'll be able to learn a lot from someone like you whilst serving this company to the best of my ability." _If I get arrested because of murder then tell my family I love them and tell Taishi that he can marry my sister. Actually cut that last part._

"Wow..." CEO-san replies awestruck at the pretentious literary brilliance displayed by the cunt. "Well, Takahiro, you can continue the tour with Hikigaya-san, I want to have a personal chat with this young man right here."

Whilst I gladly walked away with my assistant... who I presume is called 'Takahiro', the CEO's pet had the cheek to wink at me. He was doing everything possible to make me overreact. But he chose the wrong person for this.

"Excuse me..." murmured a voice. It was Takahiro who tried to address me.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if we just get this tour done with?" One thing I respected about him, is that during all the drama going on, he didn't really care and just did what was asked of him. He did his job perfectly without giving a crap about other things happening around him. He may be the sort of guy that I'd like to hang out with. But hey... I shouldn't really make a judgement so early.

"Yeah that's fine by me. Can I ask you one thing?"

"What?"

"Do you have any friends?"

"That depends on what you consider as-"

"Okay stop right there. That's a line only loners would say."

"How did you know?"

"Guess what? I'm a loner as well. Haha what a surprise!"

"I guess the reason for that is your personality and your eyes?"

"You asking that as a question is you being very polite. I'd like to know what makes you so lonely."

"That's mainly thanks to my past. My parents died when I was very young. And my relatives weren't financially able to take proper care of me. Therefore, once a rich family generously decided to adopt me, my life restarted. As a consequence of being with the rich family, I wasn't sent to school and they instead made me do a lot of the housework. I did get some education later in life, however the only thing that really caught my attention was literature. Therefore my knowledge on sciences and other subjects aren't exactly strong. As a result of me not experiencing school life, I didn't develop the necessary social skills to make friends. And here we are... I'm a novel editor working for the company made by the man who raised me."

"So Yoshitori-san..."

"Yes it was him who adopted me."

"I'm sorry..."

"No it's fine. My past isn't something I feel uncomfortable sharing. Especially with someone who I think can understand."

"Well... a socialising tip for next time... don't trust people after only spending a few hours with them."

"Didn't I just say that my past isn't something I'm uncomfortable with?"

"You may not feel uncomfortable sharing it but certain people can make you feel uncomfortable about it."

"If you know so much about socialising then why keep a personality so rotten?"

"I know about socialising that's EXACTLY why I keep a personality this rotten."

"GAHH I'm so confused!"

"Anyways lets just get this done with." We proceeded to complete the remainder of the tour without exchanging too many words.

The first day at work ended uneventfully, contrary to how the day had actually gone. I had a shaky start with the CEO, after presumably proven to be inferior to the other guy he 'invited'. The 'other guy' being the most frustrating person to be around. I don't know whether I should consider that guy as a rival or as an unbearable piece of shit. To make up for all the negativity, I met someone who I feel like I could consider as an acquaintance. He was there with me whilst I walked out of the building.

"Hey..." said Takahiro as he approaches me from behind. "Wanna go to this nearby cafe? You seem to like your coffee."

"Well... depends if its got a TV."

"It does."

"And also what it shows on that TV."

"Well it does like to show talent shows."

"I'm in." If you remember correctly, today is also the day of Yuigahama's next performance. I originally planned on going to watch it live but considering how far it is, and with the traffic, I wasn't sure I would've been able to make it on time. Therefore, as a result, I didn't get myself a ticket for the live show. Instead I simply planned on watching it in on TV at home. But I certainly wouldn't reject watching it in a nice cafe.

* * *

 **Yui POV**

"Aahh Yukinon I'm sooooo nervous!"

"Don't worry Yuigahama-san. We've had a nice practice over this. Just two things you need to remember. In the chorus, when you say the word 'last' in English, remember to release the 'l' sound instead of the 'r' sound. I'm sure your mother would've informed you about the common mishaps that happen when a Japanese person sings an English song. The other thing you need to remember is not to release the 'l' sound whilst saying 'need' because that makes is sound like a totally different word that actually exists. As you'd know, mixing up 'n' and 'l' is another common mistake."

"Yukinon you really sound mama now."

I was extremely close to the moment. The moment I perform to prove my talent that the judges praised. That audition now seems as if it happened years ago. I need to remind myself that this competition means more than anything to me. I HAVE to win this. I simply have to...

Eventually, Yukinon left and I was now by myself to deal with my increasing tension. Yukinon had probably taken her seat in the theater by now. This was it... anytime now...

"Yuigahama Yui... you're up."

* * *

 **Hachiman POV**

We took a seat on a table fairly close to the TV. Takahiro generously allowed me to sit on the chair that faced the TV. Once the order was set, I had both eyes fixed on that electronic object. It better show me what I wanted to see.

The quality of other performances was simply frustrating. I was wondering whether Yuigahama's preparation would be good enough to compete with these. I kept wondering... and wondering... and wondering... and...

"Our next performer, a young girl from Chiba, with one of the most stunning auditions we've ever had... please welcome... YUIGAHAMA YUI!" _Here we go..._

The stage turned dark, the big screen on the back of the stage showed a series of clips, making some sort of promo for her much anticipated performance. A roaring round of applause greeted the end of the video as blue lights are shined over Yuigahama who's presence on the stage is now recognised. **[The song is 'One last time' by Ariana Grande. Play it in the background so that you can make out the tune of the song. You may choose not to.]** Soft music is played in the background as Yuigahama's performance begins...

"I was a liar  
I gave in to the fire  
I know I should've fought it  
At least I'm being honest  
Feel like a failure  
'Cause I know that I failed you  
I should've done you better  
'Cause you don't want a liar" _Looks good..._

"And I know, and I know, and I know  
She gives you everything,  
But, boy, I couldn't give it to you  
And I know, and I know, and I know  
That you got everything,  
But I got nothing here without you" _Okay now she needs a strong chorus..._

"So one last time  
I need to be the one who takes you home  
One more time  
I promise, after that, I'll let you go  
Baby, I don't care if you got her in your heart  
All I really care is you wake up in my arms  
One last time  
I need to be the one who takes you home" _Good chorus. Now the next stanza..._

"I don't deserve it  
I know I don't deserve it,  
But stay with me a minute  
I swear I'll make it worth it  
Can't you forgive me?  
At least just temporarily  
I know that this is my fault  
I should've been more careful." _Very decent indeed..._

"And I know, and I know, and I know  
She gives you everything,  
But, boy, I couldn't give it to you  
And I know, and I know, and I know  
That you got everything,  
But I got nothing here without you"

Yuigahama goes on to repeat the chorus. Meanwhile, the camera focuses on the judges and the audience's reaction, allowing me to analyse them. The audience were deeply involved in the performance however that didn't tell me too much about the quality of her performance. Once the focus was on the judges, that's when I began to infer the messages. There was something wrong...

Under normal circumstances, if Yuigahama's performance was truly brilliant, a song like this would've made the female judge cry. However her face was like everyone else in the audience. She looked engaged in the performance however by no means did she seem fascinated. There was a similar reaction on the faces of the other two judges. I don't know why I felt disappointed at that. They seemed to like the performance however... they didn't seem to like it enough.

As Yuigahama went on to finish her performance, I await the judges' response in agony. **[You can stop the song in case it's still playing.]**

There was a decent amount of applause. Thankfully, all the judges at least applauded the performance. The female judge spoke up first...

"Right... Yuigahama Yui... the performance we've all been waiting for ever-so-patiently. And I mean it... your audition was arguably the best we've seen in a long time." _Now this is annoying. She's about to give some sort of negative feedback however instead chooses to flatter her before she does so._ "However... your performance today didn't live up to those expectations I had of you. It was certainly a good performance but it was lacking that extra quality which you delivered during the auditions." _But hey... at least she isn't annoying me further by commenting on Yuigahama's appearance._ "But one thing you didn't let anyone down on was your appearance... you look beautiful." _Fuck off..._

Next... the judge who looked like Santa Claus... by which I mean the lenient male judge...

"I completely agree with her. Your performance was brilliant but not up to the standards we expected from you. But one thing I have to add... I believe you can pull this off. I believe that you can give us a better performance if you're given another chance. I strongly believe that if you qualify for the finals, we'll see another fantastic performance. What do you think?" He turns and asks the audience. His question is greeted with a roar of encouragement. Hearing his comments was surely positive, however I'm not sure how much of it he truly meant.

And now... the final judge... he has the ability to create the ultimate similes and metaphors. He has the ability to verbally molest you. He has the ability to give you post-trauma disorder... but he didn't...

"I can see why there is some sort of optimism regarding whether you reach the final or not. Let me tell you that your performance was definitely one of the better ones we've seen today. Over the years we've seen many performances at that quality which have qualified to the finals. But the problem here is that you're on a decline. The quality of your performance has decreased from last time. That's one of the biggest problems with people who have great auditions. You cannot be complacent in these competitions. I could feel that your performance today lacked enough practice. So regardless of whether you qualify or not, I want you to go back, and whatever you do in your life, I want you to do it without complacency." The audience applauded in appreciation of the judge's surprisingly polite constructive criticism. Yuigahama on the other hand, had traces of shock on her face however it was on the verge of slowly fading away as she listened carefully to what the judge had to say. I'd presume that the shock was from realising how her performance wasn't the best she could've done. It was the sign of how she had actually been complacent about her performance. Nevertheless, this was the wake up call she needed. If she is to qualify, she won't make the same mistake again.

The camera was now focused back on Yuigahama, who looked straight at it, whilst the presenter spoke...

"To vote for Yuigahama Yui text 686869 to 88888888. Texts will cost your standard network charge. Voting opens after all performances have been finished and will only last for thirty minutes. Thank you..."

The show went on as I helplessly watched each contestant/ group of contestants perform. As a result, I desperately looked out for errors in their performances which would give me a reason to believe that Yuigahama still has a chance in this competition.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked the person sitting opposite me.

"Go on..."

"Is that pink-haired girl your girlfriend?" _HAH?!_

"No she's not. She's just a friend." _Seriously though... you understand barely anything about social relationships but you still infer these things like some normalfag?_

"So is this what they call 'friend-zone'?"

"No no no... if I confess to someone but they reply saying they only want to be friends, that's when I've been friend-zoned."

"You sure seem to know a lot. Personal experience?"

"No... definitely not..."

"Sarcasm?" _This guy..._

"I'd much rather leave those times behind me."

"So you did get friend-zoned by her?"

"Not by her. Back in middle school... I'd rather not talk about it."

"Anyways... it's getting late. I should get going. You can stay here if you want."

"In that case..." I signaled to the waiter. "... another MAX please..."

After the departure of Taka... _what was his name? Oh well... I'll just add the name that comes in my mind from the 'Forgotten names' list._ Ahem... after the departure of Takawasaki, my brain, ears and eyes were all focused onto the television. In fact, add the nose and the skin as well. Not tongue though... that's focused on MAX.

Once all the performances had finished, it was time...

I grabbed my phone and did what was to be done. But I wasn't finished there...

There were few people I had to call...

"Yo... Komachi..." I spoke into the phone. "Do you mind doing your onii-chan a favour?"

"Already done it!" was the reply from my sister.

"And... what about mom and dad?"

"Did it for them as well."

"Thanks."

Without wasting too much time, I went on to my next victim...

"Sensei... can you do me a favour?"

"Don't worry about it. Both me and my husband have done it. That's right... I'm married. HAAHAAAAHAAAHAAHAAA!"

And the next victim...

"Oi... can you do me a favour?"

"Don't worry about it senpai! I've already done it!"

"Thanks."

The next victim...

"Tobe... can you do me a favour?"

"No worries bro! I got you! Go ahead! What d'ya want?"

"Actually forget it..." _I don't wanna owe anything to Tobe._

Next...

"Zaimokuza... wanna know how to summon dragons from Antarctica?"

"There are dragons in Antarctica?"

"Ooooh yes!"

"Tell me..."

"Text 686869 to 88888888."

"Oooh. Is it expensive?"

"Umm... depends on what your standard network charge is."

There was a prolonged pause before he replied. "Hachiman... don't lie to me..."

"Fine... it's to vote for Yuigahama in a talent competition."

"So where's the dragon?"

"There's only one way to find out..."

"What is it?"

"Text 686869 to 88888888."

"Is this what people call a 'favour'?"

"Well... yeah."

"Well then... what do I get in return?"

"In return... I'll send you Zankyou no terror merchandise." **[3]**

"No... I want Harry Potter."

"I'm in Tokyo not London. Do we have a deal on Zankyou no terror?"

"Seriously though... if that's Tokyo then wouldn't it be disrespectful for you to buy Zankyou no terror merchandise?"

"DO... WE... HAVE... A... DEAL... OR... NOT?"

"D-Deal."

And my final victim...

"Yo... Kawasaki... can you do me a favour?"

"What favour?"

"Text 686869 to 88888888."

"Why?"

"Well-"

"Is it for Yuigahama?"

"Yeah."

"I see no reason to reject."

"Well it will cost you your standard network charge though."

"Don't worry about it. I know my family isn't the richest but the standard network charge isn't a problem. And I'll make the rest of my family do it as well." _Wow she's actually being nice for once._ "And in return don't forget to send some expensive souvenirs, okay?" _Maybe not._

"Thanks anyway." _How expensive is 'expensive'? Considering it's Kawasaki, a pencil should be enough? Now I don't even know if that is a valid assumption or simply a rude comment directed towards her financial situation._

I hung up the phone, expecting her to take care of my request. Now you might ask me... _"_ _why Hachiman... why someone like you... who only believes in what's genuine... would ask others to vote for Yuigahama? Even if they wouldn't do it under normal circumstances?_

Well the reason behind that is simple. I want Yuigahama to go through to the final. _You probably didn't expect it to be that simple._

I know Yuigahama better than the rest of Japan does. I understand how Yuigahama has come in with a disadvantage. If she is given this opportunity, I can almost guarantee that her performance in the final will significantly exceed today's performance. Besides, she was better than half of the contestants today anyway. _Besides it's not as if getting a few people to vote will make a significant difference anyway._

Amidst the roaring applause, the show's presenter makes his way back to the centre of the stage.

"Thank you... thank you... now... it is time for the results to be revealed. The votes have been counted and the result of the voting is inside this envelope." He lifts up an envelope in his hand. "So without further ado, lets welcome the contestants!" The clapping and cheering in the audience continues as each act makes its way onto the stage. "First we have... genius mathematician... IamONE! Next we have... dancing group... danceWW! And next up... singer... Yuigahama Yui! Next we have... comedian... Bcheets! Please put your hands together for... gymnast... FireHeroine! Our sixth semi-finalist... rapper... ImaNukeYoFace! Our penultimate semi-finalist... singer... Gozzu! And finally... please welcome... magician... Kuroba Kaito!" **[4]** The cheering eventually expired once all the contestants entered the stage and stood next to each other in the line. Once the noise came down to a reasonable level, the presenter continued. "This... is it. As I've said before, the votes have been counted and the result... is right here ladies and gentlemen... in the grip of my fingers. Only two... of these eight contestants will qualify. So lets get started, shall we?"

The lighting on the stage turns dim, as the only things illuminated on the stage are the contestants and the presenter.

"Right..." He opens the envelope and takes out a white piece of card. After carefully reading it, he continues. "The contestant... who after getting the highest amount of votes, WILL be going through to the final... is..." _This feels more tense than I had expected._ The camera showed each of the contestants whilst there was a background sound of heartbeats. "... Kuroba Kaito!" _Dammit!_ The crowd went wild as a young man dressed in a white suit prevails victorious. He walks away from the stage leaving the other seven in agony. Only one of those seven are to join him and ten others in the final.

"It's got a bit more tense here, hasn't it? Only one more will join him. Next... I'll be announcing the contestant who has got the least votes today, and therefore finishing in eighth place." The atmosphere onstage returns to how it was a minute ago, as the presenter announces... "Gozzu." The middle-aged woman hangs her head in disappointment, however soon accepts the result and walks out the stage.

"Well now... moving up in seventh place... we have..." _This guy is sure taking his time._ "... IamONE." The young teenager accepts the result better than you'd expect a teenager to. _At least he can say "IamONE place better than the last placed semi-finalist"._

"In sixth place today... we have... ImaNukeYoFace." The slightly darker skinned young gentleman also bites the dust. _It seems like he's the one who got 'nuked in the face'. Hahahaa! Get it? No? Nevermind._

"In fifth place... after a brilliant audition..." _What?! NO!_ "... Bcheets." _Thank God..._

"That leaves us with three semi-finalists... danceWW, Yuigahama Yui, and FireHeroine. Only one of these three can join Kuroba Kaito and ten others in the grand finale of Japan's got talent. The name of the act that finished fourth on the night... is... FireHeroine." The young woman puts her hands on her face and starts crying. Yuigahama and a couple of the members of the dance group went to _'_ _support'_ her. **[5]** _Heeheehee._ _Come on you must've got this one. No? Okay then._ Soon enough, the girl made her way out of the stage, leaving only two remaining acts.

"Now that leaves us with only two remaining acts." _Mate you pretty much repeated what I just said- I mean thought._ "On my left, we have Yuigahama Yui. On my right, we have danceWW, led by Yuzumiya Ruri." **[6]**

The guy took one last look at the card, then looked straight at the audience, whilst bringing his microphone closer to his mouth. _This is it..._

"The act... that finished second tonight, and will go through to the final... is..." _Please be Yuigahama..._ "... that act... is..." _Please..._ "... it is..." _Just say it!_ "... we'll find out after the break!" _Motherfu-_

"Excuse me..." A soft voice catches my attention just as the show gets an advertisement break.

"Yes?" I turned to see a relatively short, and brown-haired young woman wearing a yellow polo shirt, presumably because she works here as a member of staff.

"Oh... nothing... I was just slightly confused as to why you've been sitting here for so long. I was just wondering if everything is okay."

"Yeah... everything is fine. Thanks for asking anyway."

"The only time I saw you get up was when you made those phone calls. Well, I actually heard what you were talking about."

"What?! Seriously? Are you some sort of creep?"

"N-No! Is it wrong of me to interact with customers in a friendly manner?" _Eww... nice girls..._

"At least I don't fully appreciate it."

"Ooooh... let me guess... you have a girlfriend so you don't like talking to other girls. Ah! It must be the pink-haired one on the TV that you wanted everyone to vote for."

"Hah? No. Hell no. And I don't see why you're asking me this."

"What's wrong with me treating customers as a friend?" _Think Hachiman! What will make her shut up?_

"Hah? Are you trying to hit on me? Saying such sweet and misleading things may work with others but not me. I'm sorry." _+50 foxy points._

"Eww! Why would anyone hit on you? That's just gross!" _I really don't care as long as you shut up and leave._ "In any case..." _Piss off!_ "... if the pink-haired girl does end up going through, you must thank them."

"Thank who?"

"The people who you asked to vote."

"Heh! To be honest, I don't know what I was thinking when I asked them. If she qualifies then it would be because the public in general voted more for her than they did for the dancing group. I doubt that me requesting some people to do it would make a difference."

"You never know..."

"A bit too optimistic there."

"Oh... it seems like the show is back on. I'll let you enjoy it. It was fun talking to you."

Scram.

"Welcome! Welcome welcome welcome!" The host 'welcomed'. "Welcome! You are watching Japan's got talent and in case you missed what happened before, Kuroba Kaito has safely qualified for the final. Who will join him? That's between danceWW and Yuigahama Yui. And don't forget after this we'll also have a special guest performance by waweeh so stay tuned!" **[4]** The crowd cheered loudly as a way to indicate their excitement towards that special guest performance. Once the noise reduced, the presenter continued...

"As we all know, the name of the other qualifying act is right here in this envelope. That name is either 'danceWW' or 'Yuigahama Yui'." _Well duh..._ "And that name... is..." _Come on!_ "... well... before I say it..." _I will kill this guy._ "The second place only beat third place by two votes! Isn't that crazy?" _Dafuq?!_ "Anyways, the one going through... to the finals... is..." _No way!_ "... Yuigahama Yui!" Yuigahama fell on her knees whilst the dancing group had their heads in their hands, clearly destroyed at the result. "Anyways lets just give a round of applause for danceWW for doing so well in the tournament." _Dear danceWW, I'm sorry. P.S: REALLY sorry._ The group were applauded as they left the stage, leaving Yuigahama as she celebrated. Once all the commotion was done and dusted, the focus quickly shifted towards the special guest performance after the presenter announced the imminent end of the show. "Well that pretty much rounds it all off. From this semi-final, the qualifiers are Kuroba Kaito, and Yuigahama Yui. Don't go anywhere, because waweeh are just about to perform. As of now, it's been your host Aqua-san, goodbye, and have a nice day!" **[4]** As soon as the performance began, I got up and left the cafeteria. I now had to drive towards the theatre to pick Yukinoshita and Yuigahama up. I'd definitely be late but knowing them, they'll go to some nearby restaurant and begin eating without me. The traffic would've most certainly reduced therefore I probably won't be THAT late.

On the other hand, my mind was still baffled at what had happened. I was the reason that Yuigahama qualified. _You see... I was right when I said talent doesn't really matter in talent shows._ As I walked out the cafeteria, the woman from before gave a slight smirk, referring to what she had told me to do. I had to thank someone.

Considering how Yuigahama had won by two votes instead of one, Zaimokuza and Isshiki probably don't deserve to be thanked. After some thinking, I realised exactly who to thank. _And what to thank them for..._

Standing outside the cafeteria, I ascended my phone, and called a certain someone.

*RING* *RING*

"Hello?" The person answered.

"Yo... Kawasaki."

"Yeah what?"

"Yeah just wanted to thank you for having a massive family."

"HAH?!"

"Anyways, goodbye."

"WAIT-" I hung up the call and headed for my car in embarrassment.

* * *

 **Tobe POV**

 _Man this is the second time I've been neglected you know? Can someone ever be nice to me please?_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** **We are edging closer and closer to the end of this fic. Anyways, hopefully you liked this chapter. Yes, I know... this chapter probably didn't have any extremely hilarious moments but I feel like I shouldn't force them in too much. As of now, you can expect this fic to end in 3 more chapters. I can promise that at least one of them will be hilarious. I can't exactly end this without having some absolutely hilarious moments. Hopefully you're looking forward to that. Currently, there are some exams going on so I'm not sure on when I'll be able to update next. All I can say is that I'll try my best. But then again, exams are more important than fanfiction. In case you're wondering, yes... I have deleted my other fic. It just didn't work out as I had hoped. And I don't regret that decision one bit.**_

 _ **In case you found the whole workplace description boring, I'll just say that the fact that the CEO wanted to have a private conversation with Sarutobi is relevant for future chapters.**_

 _ **As for random stuff, Euro 2016... Iceland are too good. England are cow bollocks. France are lucky. Germany are France. Italy are recovering from the Zaza STDs. Wales are simply stunning.**_

 _ **References:**_

 **[1] RKO- An attacking wrestling move created by Randy Keith Orton. It became famous after a commentator once said "RKO! From outta nowhere!"**

 **[2] The conversation that took place between Bruce Wayne(Batman. In this case Hachiman) and Clark Kent(Superman. In this case Sarutobi Tobi) before Lex Luthor(In this case the CEO) interrupted and greeted the two men.**

 **[3] Zankyou no terror - An anime where Tokyo gets bombed.**

 **[4] Let's just get this one out of the way- Kuroba Kaito is an anime character from Magic Kaito. Apart from that... the references are towards fellow authors in this fandom...  
Gozzu = Gossu  
IamONE = IamZERO  
danceWW = diceWW  
ImaNukeYoFace = ImaNukeYourFace  
Bcheets = Bchets  
FireHeroine = FireHero  
waweeh = weewah  
Aqua-san = Aqua-sama  
 _The fact that I've only used these 8 authors doesn't mean I don't like other authors. I certainly do however these authors' names were the first ones that sprang into my mind therefore I decided to use them. In the final, I'll be using anime characters who have some sort of talent e.g. Magician Kuroba Kaito. It would be extremely helpful if you're able to recommend me 10 other characters and also mention what talent they have._  
**

 **[5] FireHero has a popular fic named 'Support'**

 **[6] diceWW has a popular fic named 'Are the rom-com Gods favoring me now?' which has an OC named Yuzumiya Ruri.**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_ **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- Ha... Ha... Haaaaaaa...**

"Well... you're early." said catwoman in a sarcastic tone.

"Sorry about that. I wanted to watch the entire show before leaving." I took a seat on the same table as Yukinoshita and Yuigahama in the restaurant.

"Well..." murmured Yukinoshita.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to congratulate Yuigahama-san on her performance?"

"Actually before I do that... I went out of my way to call Kawasaki's family to vote for you and that's pretty much the only reason you qualified." I paused as I received blank stares from the pair. "Oh... congratulations Yuigahama on qualifying."

"Hikki... why do you have to say it like that?"

"Because it's important that you understand the fact that you don't deserve to be in the finale."

"Then why did you help me?"

"Because... well... because... I don't even know actually."

"Hikigaya-kun..." interrupted Yukinoshita. "What's done is done. We should thank Kawasaki-san and move on."

"About that... she said she wanted expensive souvenirs as compensation. I guess you could take care of that."

For some reason she silently giggled at my statement.

"What's so funny?"

"Baka-gaya-kun, you got yourself into this, you'll spend your own money to get yourself out of this. That shouldn't be a problem for someone who works under Yoshitori Yoshi, should it?" _Why do you have to look so cute whilst saying it?_

"So you know him?"

"Know who?"

"Yoshitori Yoshi"

"Does it come as a surprise?"

"No... just asking. I guess being a Yukinoshita has its perks of not having to socialise in order to get to know people."

"That reminds me. As hopeless it is of me to ask this, have you made any friends there?"

"Well... an acquaintance... maybe..."

"That's a miracle in itself. However if you remember the name then I'll admit defeat in life." _Heh? Admitting defeat so easily? I actually thought you were competitive. All I have to do now is say the name which is-_

"Ta... ka... ta... taka... ta..."

"Oh... what a shame." Her statement gradually leads her into a state of silent giggling, then into a complete outburst of laughter. Not just her though...

"Ha-ha-hi-Hikki... hahaha..." _Is this how I get repaid? Oh wait... that reminds me..._

"Seriously Yuigahama? This is how you repay me?"

"Okay okay. You can ask me for a favour. As compenisation." _Dafuq?_

"Yuigahama-san... you mean 'compensation'." Yukinoshita corrects the uneducated woman. _Seriously? 'Compenisation'? There was no other way you could make a pronunciation error?_

"Yeah yeah that." Yuigahama nervously responded. "Go on Hikki... what do you want? You can ask for pretty much anything. I'm in a good mood." _Firstly, 8man perverted mode: OFF. Now... what could I possibly want..._

"Your phone..." I mumbled in response.

"Eh? Why do you want my phone? You've got one yourself."

"I won't keep it. I'll give it back in a minute." Hesitantly, Yuigahama grabbed her phone and handed it to me. _It's time..._

I reached for my headphones in my pocket, inserted it inside Yuigahama's phone. _You dirty-minded bastard._ I maintained a neutral expression in order to not reveal the purpose of my request. Ahem...

 _Gallery... videos... camera videos... scroll down to a few weeks ago..._

 _"My YOUTH has only had the 'T' and the 'H'. All it needs to be complete... is 'YOU'." Options... delete... 'Are you sure you want to delete this item?' Fuck yeah..._

In case you don't know what I just did, I successfully deleted the video that has been used to blackmail me multiple times.

"Here you go..." I said as I handed Yuigahama's cellular device back to her.

The other two spent the remainder of the evening rather peacefully and positively, whilst they were unaware of what I had done. The one who prevailed victorious was me... Hikigaya Hachiman.

 _Ha..._

 _Ha..._

 _Haaaaaaa..._

* * *

Mondays... if we split it up... mon days. 'Mon' in French means 'my'. If you tell someone that Monday is a good day because of that then they'll dissect your brain and remove the bit responsible for puns.

As bad people's opinions of Mondays are, I've come to contradict their statements. In other words, Mondays aren't too bad in my opinion. You see... people seem to love Fridays because it marks the beginning of two days of no working. Mondays brings these people back to the cruel reality by giving them a kick in the ass and telling them to get back to work.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of working myself. However, the emotional reminder that Mondays give me is the reason why I prefer it over the short-term happiness that Fridays give me about the week-end.

Besides, if we remove Mondays from the system then we're left with Tuesday as the first day of the week. As a result, people will eventually develop a similar hate for Tuesday. And the people who are optimistic about Tuesday because 'Tu' in French means 'you', will have dissected brains by the time Friday comes around.

But hey... it's not as if I'm a working man... am I?

 _Bollocks..._

"Sequel of 'Lamb had a little Mary' is on its way. As shit as the first one was, we need to do a professional job here." announced the head of the department. Yes... this guy was pretty informal when it comes to his speech. However, as I've heard from Takawasaki( _that's what I'd be calling him for now_ ), that the guy is brilliant once he works with all seriousness. _Not bad, eh?_

Nevertheless, I paid attention to what else he had to say...

"On the other hand, we also have part four of 'Tokyo Assassins' which should be interesting so- man what the fuck you doing here?"

Every eye in the room looked up to what had disrupted the head of department guy's speech. _I think I know this cunt..._

"Pardon my intrusion sir." Mr Intruder spoke up. "My name's Sarutobi Tobi. Pleased to meet you. For some business, I've come here to this department to speak to Mr Takahiro. Do you mind if I do?"

"Oi... Takahiro... the fuck does he want with you? Just step outside and speak to him for a second."

Takawa-I guess I can call him 'Takahiro' now... left his seat and walked outside the room to presumably speak to that guy... _I guess I can call him 'Sarutobi' now..._

I personally didn't give a shit. Maybe a teeny-weeny bit... maybe I did give a shit. Okay yeah I was pretty confused as to what sort of urgent business Sarutobi would have with Takahiro now. _Oh well..._

During the temporary disruption, I was left contemplating on how satisfied I was with this job. In that case, what was my dream?

Unfortunately, there were only two kinds of dreams jumping to my mind...

The good ones...

 _"Hikigaya Hachiman and Totsuka Saika. I now announce you husband and hus-"_

 _WHY DID IT HAVE TO END?!_

The bad ones...

 _"Kawasaki Taishi and Hikigaya Komachi. I now announce you-"_

 _Shut... the... fuck... up..._

Anyways, was I satisfied with this job? I'd be lying if I said no. It's too early to judge anyways.

In an attempt to escape my thoughts, I looked down at my desk with curious eyes. As a result, I took a deep glance into the book placed in front of my eyes... 'A guide to 1939 Britain'. I've never been a big fan of historic books. Not only you'd have to go through the quality of writing, however you'd also have to validate the historic information included in the book. And let's be honest, using Google-sensei for that is pretty boring. I'd rather speak to someone old enough. Hiratsuka-sensei should qualify however before I get my necessary responses, she'd chokeslam me into another dimension. Risks outweigh the benefits to put it into simpler words.

As a newcomer, I could always ask for some help. I guess I could... but who can I ask?

The screeching of a nearby chair caught my attention as I saw Takahiro take his seat after his interaction with Sarutobi. _Oh well..._

* * *

After a long day of work, what could one possibly ask for? Bath? Dinner? Ahem? Wrong. The correct answer is... coffee. Yes... no arguments please.

Glancing at my watch, there was still plenty of time left before having to be at Yukinoshita's house for dinner. Here goes nothing...

"E-Excuse me... Takahiro... san?" I approached the one whom I needed help from.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could accompany me to that café again." As I said that, a larger part of me was dying to scream _"LISTEN! THIS IS NOT A GAY CONFESSION OKAY?"_

"Actually I was about to go there as well."

"Oh... that's great. Sh-Shall we get going then?" _NOT a gay confession._

* * *

Comfortably seated at the same café where I casually put Yuigahama into the finals, I removed the book from my bag and placed it on the table next to my beloved coffee. However, before I could even open the cover of said book, my eyes and ears caught the sight and sound of Takahiro placing two pieces of paper on the table. One of these papers was written on in Japanese whilst the other was rather empty except a few words which were being written presently by Takahiro... in English.

"Oi..." I began. "What's that you're doing?"

"Well... you remember on your first day when Sarutobi-san was taken away by Yoshitori-san for a private conversation?"

"Yeah."

"It turns out that Sarutobi-san was asked to prepare his newcomer's speech in English so that it would inspire other workers here to develop a good skill in that language. He ignorantly accepted the request even though he isn't good at English. During their conversation, Yoshitori-san told him that I'm someone who is very good at English. Hence he decided to come to me today in search of help. This piece of paper has his Japanese version written and I'm here translating."

"Why did you accept?"

"I'm generous. With the sort of past I've had, I've learnt to be generous to people."

"But do you not understand that he's taking advantage of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Because of your generosity, he'll start coming to you with multiple requests, and you'll end up accepting all of them."

"I can always decline."

"You won't be able to."

"There's no point thinking about it now. There's nothing we can-"

"Yes... there is always something we can do about it."

"..." He silently stared at me in search for an answer.

"Actually let me rephrase that. There is always something _I_ can do about it."

"Eh?"

"Just do whatever he asked you to. Do it quickly. But instead of giving the product to him, give it... to me." For the second time in this chapter...

 _Ha..._

 _Ha..._

 _Haaaaaaa..._

* * *

Half past 8... _dinner tiiiiiiime! Mum, where's dinner?_

"Ew... Hikki's being gross again." _Did I say that out loud?_

"Hikigaya-kun, considering me as your mother is beyond the level of grossness introduced into this planet."

"How do you know the level of grossness introduced into this planet?" I asked.

"Because I'm having to look at your face everyday." _Shots fired. R.I.P Hikigaya Hachiman. Chapter 1- Chapter 10._

At the corner of my eye, I saw the pink-haired woman laughing as if she was about to die. _'Die', eh? R.I.P Yuigahama Yui. Chapter 1- Chapter 10._

This is where I come up with a clever way to R.I.P Yukinoshita but then again she never had a life to begin with. _R.I.P Yukinoshita Yukino. Never came to existence._

"So..." I turned my attention to the source of the voice aka catwoman. It wasn't a casual start to a sentence. She seemed slightly serious about whatever she was about to say. "Yuigahama-san..."

"Y-Y-Yes?" replied a visually terrified Yuigahama.

"Your performance in the semi-final was... as you know... disappointing. As a result, in the upcoming few days available to us, you won't be allowed the liberty to do as you please. You'll be staying home, practising your singing whilst myself and Hikigaya-kun will be going to my upcoming gathering this week-end." _Wait a second... which 'Hikigaya-kun' is going to what now?_ "Is that understood?"

"Y-Yes." replied a sad Yuigahama.

"Wait a second..." I intervened. "Two things... firstly, I think we should help Yuigahama instead of just asking her to practise by herself. Secondly, why am I going to this meeting now?"

There was silence whilst Yukinoshita contemplated on how to respond.

"To answer your first statement, yes... we will be helping Yuigahama-san. I can help her in several ways. Can you?"

"I can play the drums but only for the song I wrote myself."

"That's a no then. Regarding your second inquiry, you'll be going to the meeting, because I told you to."

"Woman... I don't know if you're aware of my identity but I'm Hikigaya Hachiman and I don't waste my precious week-ends on bullshit meetings where I'll be rather useless."

"You're not required for the 'meeting' part. You're only required to accompany me to the party that follows the meeting."

"Why is that?"

"Purpose will be explained on said day."

"In that case I see no reason to comply."

"Yuigahama-san... you remember there's a certain video clip in your cellular device?"

"Oh... that one!" responded Yuigahama in an excited tone. "I'll find it right now..." She attempts to search for the particular video. Little did she know... "Eh? Where is it? Why can't I find it?"

 _Ha..._

 _Ha..._

 _Haaaaaaa..._

It doesn't take long for someone as intelligent as Yukinoshita to recollect the events at the restaurant and come up with the explanation to Yuigahama's confusion. She slowly turns towards me with an expression of defeat.

 _Ha..._

 _Ha..._

 _Haaaaaaa..._

 _You better come up with some other way to convince me..._

"There will be food."

"Take Zaimokuza with you."

"FREE food."

"What's the dress code?"

* * *

The week-end has arrived, thus marking the end of my first week at work. Now, I'll do nothing other than relax and-

 _What is this shit party?_

In case you haven't guessed by now, I was at the party I was invited(or rather forced) into attending. The people here were about as prestigious as it gets. I felt like I had to double the amount of brain cells I possessed in order to stand a chance in communicating with these rare breed of humanoids. One look in the eye and they have made a thousand prejudicial decisions about you. I had to be extra careful in choosing even who to look at. In case it isn't obvious enough, the sole reason why I was still present at the party was because of my desire for food. I've never exactly had a really posh meal. You know the meals where they cost you half of your life earnings just for a pinch of salt? Yeah... those ones.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." In the midst of a fairly large crowd, emerged the figure of Yukinoshita Yukino. She wasn't dressed in a manner suitable for parties. Instead, she was in a very formal attire, indicating the preceding meeting that she was part of. But none of that seemed relevant because...

 _Dammit she's wearing glasses!_

Over the past month or so, I've come to realise that whenever Yukinoshita wears glasses, I simply can't look at her. Well I can but I simply start stuttering if I speak whilst looking at her.

"Y-Y-Yo." was all that managed to escape my mouth.

"Hikigaya-kun, I can tolerate your minor inferiority when it comes to conducting yourself professionally however I can't tolerate you being unable to speak at all."

"H-H-H-Hai... m-m-ma'am."

"Is there something wrong?"

I turned away and took one deep breath before I spoke. "Can you... please take your glasses off?"

"Can I please take my what off?!" _HAH?!_

"GLASSES! That thing in front of your eyes!" _Great! Not only do people think I'm some dumb shit. They'll also think that I'm a pervert! What a wonderful situation to be in!_

"Oh..." Her hand began navigating around her eyes. "Thanks for reminding me actually. I forgot to take them off after the meeting." In a swift moment, the glasses were off and I regained self-confidence in my speech.

"Anyways... when does dinner start?"

"Oh that would be one hour later."

"What the duck later?"

"One hour."

"..."

"60 minutes."

"..."

"3600 seconds."

"Yeah yeah I get it. It's just that it is a bit too much for me to survive in this place."

"You won't just survive. You'll live."

"That brings me to my question. Why the hell am I here?"

"That brings me to my answer." She turns around and starts walking a certain direction. "Follow me."

I blindly complied.

"I need to introduce you to someone." she began. "In fact, I actually forgot that you don't need introduction." She stops and looks towards a certain someone.

"Yoshitori... Yoshi..."

"Not him. The guy next to him."

"Sarutobi... Tobi."

"That's right." It seems as if that the CEO's pet has gone far enough to even accompanying him to a formal party.

"Wait a minute... please don't tell me that this is going to be some cliché situation where Yoshitori-san has asked you to marry his beloved employee Sarutobi or as I like to call him... cuntface. As a result, do you want me to play your fake boyfriend or something?"

"Incorrect on different levels. You see... Yoshitori-san will be making an official decision on whether to employ you and Sarutobi-san or not. You can pretty much bet that Sarutobi-san is 100% getting employed. However..." There was a chill sent down my spine. I was fairly confident with my ability. Don't tell me... "... you are also getting employed." _Phew!_

"So where's the catch?"

"I need to talk about something with Yoshitori-san. And it's very private. I need you to eliminate his pet from the sights." I was silent, in hopes that there was something she could add on.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah."

"Look... I want to kill you right now. And that's me being polite."

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! You just wasted half of my week-end just to distract someone for your benefit and then guess what? You ask me 'what's wrong?'! What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing really."

"You..." It probably comes as a surprise that I'm getting so pissed at Yukinoshita. But what/who do I love more? Week-ends or Yukinoshita? Week-ends... hands down. _Boo to all of you who've been preaching "HachixYukino!", "8manxYuki!", "I ship Hachiman with Yukino." Seriously? Since when did 'ship' become associated with couples? If you take the literal meaning of the verb 'ship', you can't exactly transport me and Yukinoshita, can you? That's just downright deportation._

"Hikigaya-kun, I know you're slightly unhappy." _Well done Sherlock!_ "But could you please accept this as a humble request?"

"Fine." I had nothing to lose really.

As I contemplated on how to distract cun- I mean Sarutobi, I began to realise how it wasn't as easy a job as I expected it to be.

I had to make sure that he's distracted before he recognises Yukinoshita's presence. Considering how he's here as Yoshitori-san's guest, they wouldn't be likely to part ways too easily. What was I to do? How was I to do it?

Answer... stealth Hikki.

As the two men conversed with each other, I patiently awaited the arrival of one of the drink servers.

"How much time do you need?" I asked Yukinoshita.

"20 minutes should be fine."

"Understood."

I made my first move as I spotted an incoming drink server. He was certain to walk closely past the two men I had my attention on. As soon as I felt certain that said men were too deeply indulged in their conversation, I walked towards the scene. It wasn't just a normal walk. I had timed this walk to a 9 out of 10 on the stealth Hikki scale. In a swift move, I managed to silently push a glass full of drink onto a certain someone's shoes.

"AARGH! Who dares to spill this filthy liquid over my shoes worth 80,000 yen?!" _80,000? How stupid..._

Sarutobi Tobi, my victim, looked around in search of the culprit. All I can tell you is that he underestimated the power of stealth Hikki. Anyways... for the important bit.

"Excuse me Yoshitori-san, I'll be right back from the washroom." That was the first part done. The second part was to keep him there for twenty minutes.

As he made his way towards the washroom, I had made sure that I was already there, awaiting his arrival. Just when he was close enough, I swiftly went to the sink and began to wash my hands as if I genuinely needed to. With the arrival of Sarutobi, the twenty minutes began.

"80,000 yen, eh?"

"What?" He turned his glance towards me. "You?"

I turned back with a grin that pretty much said _"I'm Batman and I'm about to beat yo ass!"_

"I guess this question is pretty obvious but... who invited you here?" he asked.

"I guess this question is pretty obvious but... why do you care?"

"Just asking. What's your problem?"

"My problem seems to be that you seem to be using certain people to enter the world of fame and prestige. Am I wrong?"

"I have no idea what you're on about. I'm not using anyone. Besides, I don't need to use anyone. Can't you tell by my attire? Seriously you need to work on your inference skills. That's really important for someone who works as a novel editor, won't you say?"

"It's really important for humans in general to not lie, won't you say?"

"W-What do you mean?" I slowly shifted my focus to his shoes in a way that told him exactly what I meant. Quite obviously, he didn't say anything.

"Those shoes... how much were they?"

"L-Like I said before, 80-"

"-thousand yen? Now listen... I'm not exactly someone with a lot of wealth and status but I know a lot about the people who are. You see... whenever they wear or carry something expensive... they don't exactly... shout about it. Because you're not going to step up to the plate and admit it, I'll simply spell it out for you. You want everyone here to acknowledge the wealth and status that you don't have."

Sarutobi stays dead silent for a considerable amount of time whilst keeping an eye at the entrance of the washroom. _Fine by me... he can waste as much time as he wants. It will only go on to help my cause._

During the long and very awkward stretch of time he spent simply looking at the entrance, the twenty minutes had ended. Other people had come and gone and we were still standing there looking like a gay couple waiting for everyone to leave so that we can get to business. _Eww..._

Nevertheless, I ran out of patience and made my way towards the entrance. However, before I could do that...

*CLICK* Sarutobi had reached the door before me and locked it from inside.

"Where did you get the key?" I asked.

"All waiters have one on them."

"So you stole one?"

"It seems you're good at inferring things. Why don't you figure it out yourself?"

"You were a waiter here in one of the previous parties."

The surprised look on his face was enough to tell me I was right. _No wonder he has so much knowledge about all the people here._ I looked around to find someone who can actually deal with this idiot. There was a problem...

... because no one else was there. _Oi oi..._

"Umm... Saruto-be-or-not-to-be or whatever your name is... I totally respect gay people but I'm not gay myself therefore I'm not interested in the course of action you're intending to take right now." _Only if I knew what his course of action was to be..._

He didn't waste another second and punched me straight in the face which literally sent me flying to the wall opposite. This wasn't exactly an ideal situation. In order to get out, I had to not only fight this guy who was older and more muscular than me, but also manage to get the key out of his pocket. _8man fighting mode: ON_

12 seconds later...

I lay inside one of the cubicles as a result of the beating I had taken from Sarutobi. He was at least clever enough to leave me inside a cubicle so that people won't suspect him if they see him leave the washroom. The whole ordeal of the fight had gone so quickly that I barely remember what had happened even though it only started bloody 12 seconds ago. And when I say 'bloody', that's not me speaking in a British manner, I meant 'bloody'. Thankfully, my blazer had come off, therefore when I put it back on, it covered all of the bloodstained parts on my shirt.

Lethargically, I exited the cubicle and made my way towards the sink. With one glance at my sorry self at the mirror, I managed to recollect the last words uttered by Sarutobi before he departed.

 _"You remember saying how I can get everyone in the Yoshitori corporations fired? My first and only target... is you. I'd suggest you to start looking around for other jobs, okay?"_

Right... I actually do remember saying that he can get everyone fired but I guess I didn't make it clear enough that the 'everyone'... doesn't include myself.

* * *

After making myself looking presentable again, I made my way back into the hall where starters were being served. _Ahh... food._ But before that, I needed to find someone else first.

I wandered in a nomadic fashion in order to find Yukinoshita. My head felt so dizzy that I barely knew where I was going.

"Hikigaya-kun?" said a voice behind me. It could've only been one person. I turned around to greet her.

"Yo... Yukino-o-o-oshi-i-hi-ta-ta-ta." _Why is she wearing glasses again?_

"Who's 'Yukinooooshiihitatata'?"

"S-S-Sorry... u-umm..." I gestured to her glasses silently.

"Oh... sorry about that. I had to read some papers." She smoothly takes the glasses off and swings her hair as if she was in an advertisement for a hair product.

"So... everything okay with your conversation with Yoshitori-san?" I asked.

"Yes... more than just 'okay' actually."

"Can't I know what it was about?"

"You'll soon find out."

"Tch. Whatever."

We were greeted with an unfortunate moment of awkward silence that often occurs when Yuigahama isn't around. It felt like Yukinoshita stared at me. Meanwhile, I stared at... food. _Why can't people ship me with food? Why can't it be "HachixSchezwanNoodles"? Or "HachimanxTandooriChicken"? Or "8manxPepporoniPizza"? Why, huh? Food is shipped all across the world anyway so I don't mind being shipped with them. It's free transport and unlimited food. Wait a minute... what did you just say? "HikkixTomatoes"? No! Hell no! Tomatoes can go to ma toes!_

"Here... help yourself." said Yukinoshita as she handed me a plate.

"Request accepted."

* * *

After what had been a long and harmful(Yukinoshita doesn't know yet) evening, there we were. Seated comfortably in my car, ready to set off any time. I took a peek at my wounds which now hurt more than ever. I couldn't let Yukinoshita find out about it. If she were to find out, she'd be traumatised for the remainder of her life. But then again, I can at least ask her for one favour for now.

"Hey... Yukinoshita..." I hesitated.

"Hmm?"

"You're good at English, aren't you?"

"50 times better than you at least."

"50 multiplied by 0 is 0."

"Don't lie. I know you're quite decent when it comes to English."

"Is that a rare compliment from Yukinoshita Yukino?"

"Well... what do you want?" _Changing the topic, eh?_

"There's something written in English that I want you to read."

"Is it really that complicated?"

"Not really but I want you to read it just to be on the safer side."

"Okay then..." In case you're wondering what this text is, it's Sarutobi's speech for the newcomers' ceremony. This is the translated version that Takahiro gave me a couple of days ago. I had planned to have Yukinoshita read it out today in a fluent accent.

After I handed her the papers, she-e-e-e-e-e pu-pu-pu-ut h-her g-gla-a-la-gla-s-ses o-o-on. _Wait why am I narrating like this?_

She elegantly rolled a strand of her jet black hair behind her ears. She elegantly fixed her glasses so she could read the text in front of her with the pair of elegant blue eyes that she possessed. Furthermore, she-

"Can we go now?" _Huh?_

"What? You didn't even read it."

"I just read the whole thing. Were you daydreaming?"

 _Ermmm..._

"I'll read it one more time." she sympathetically obliged. This time I decided to stare at the most uninteresting thing in the car... the mirror. To be more specific... what was in the mirror. That's right... my beautiful face. Staring at said part of the car was so boring that I decided to close my eyes and listen to Yukinoshita speak in English. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sarutobi Tobi. I hope you're all having a good day today. I'm here to speak about... myself... and some things you need to know about myself before we begin our journey together in Yoshitori corporations.

I want to use this opportunity to unveil my personality to all of you here. I sincerely hope that I don't come across as arrogant about this. I just want everyone here to embrace my personality and I want to be as honest about it as possible.

As a professional, I'm a dedicated hard-worker and ensure positive results. Anyone who will have to work alongside me in the future, you don't have to be worried about distraction. I will make sure that you won't be distracted and as a result, I'd expect similar treatment from you. That brings me on to my next point. I also strongly believe that I'm someone who can manage distraction pretty well. Trust me, distraction is a very annoying thing to experience, and also a very hard thing to manipulate. I strongly believe that I possess the skill of manipulating distraction, and hopefully I can help others develop it too.

If any of you ever want to consult something, I'm someone who'll readily accept anyone's viewpoints. So please... don't feel shy. When you share your viewpoints with me, I'll also share with you mine. This is one of my ways I hope to improve my relationship by generating a positive synergy with everyone present here, listening to my speech.

As any other human being, I've got flaws as well. The work related flaw of mine that comes to mind is that... I'm a very serious person. Hence, you won't find me joking around with people in order to bring a smile to their face. I wish I could do that. The ability to joke around and make everyone feel cheerful is something I wish I had. But then again... I'm not a joker. I'm sure many of you here are though. And I mean that positively.

To conclude, I'd like to address something that I feel like is an important part of all of our lives here. And that is... luck. Let's admit it, everyone here has experienced luck at least once in their lives. I've actually been lucky enough that the CEO of this company itself has invited me to work here. With that being said, to the CEO and to everyone here...

Thank you." _Interesting..._ "Hikigaya-kun... I have a question."

"What is it?"

"The name 'Sarutobi Tobi'... isn't that..." _Shit..._

"Umm... well... yeah... I mean..." _At this moment... Hikigaya Hachiman knew... he fucked up..._

"Be honest with me. What was the purpose of you having this piece of paper?"

I went on to explain the entire story between me and Sarutobi, also featuring Takahiro by the way. I didn't really explain what transpired between us in the washroom, hoping that she wouldn't bring it up herself.

"I understand that his actions have been despicable. But what you said you're about to do doesn't seem like a valid response. Have you ever tried talking to him in private?"

"Yeah... I have."

"What did he say?" _I give up._

"Yukinoshita... I need you to promise me that you won't freak out after what I show you, ok?"

"I... don't understand." _ARRGGHH_ _whatever..._

I softly, yet painfully, removed the blazer which did a pretty good job at hiding the wounds I had suffered.

"Hikigaya-kun... don't tell me..." _Wait wait wait! I told you not to freak out! Stop! Why are you freaking out?! Someone... help! Wait now she's crying... brilliant._ "I-I-I'm so sorry..." Tears began flowing down her cheeks as she panicked whilst opening her bag, presumably in search of some sort of aid for my injuries. _So much for not freaking out..._

"Yukinoshita... it's not really you're fault..." I said in attempt to reduce the tension.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! I was the one who asked you for the request! Please... stay still and take it off."

"Can I please take my what off?!"

"Your shirt." She extends her hand in an attempt as a gesture prior to treating my injuries.

"Umm... I think I can do that myself." I said in reference to her treating my injuries.

"Just do as I say."

I instantly grabbed her wrist firmly and pushed it back towards her. "You may have succeeded seven years ago but not today." She simply glared in sympathy and also in shock. "If I can withstand the pain for so long then a few more minutes shouldn't be a problem."

"But..."

"No 'but's. Just try and understand." _Damn it feels good dominating a conversation against Yukinoshita._

Her focus returned to the piece of paper in front of her. "So... what next?"

"I will take necessary actions and send this over to my friend who will pass this on to Sarutobi before the day of the speech."

"So... you know what to do with it?"

"I know exactly... what to do with it."

For one last time in this chapter...

 _Ha..._

 _Ha..._

 _Haaaaaaa..._

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_** ** _Here's chapter 10. As usual... hopefully you liked this chapter. No references in a chapter is good for a change I guess. I know nothing about how novel editing works so please forgive me on that or at least be nice if I've made a big, noticeable mistake regarding that. It feels so weird now when I think back to how I originally planned for this fic to be a tragic and sad fic._**

 ** _What would've happened in that fic is that eventually after they've reached Tokyo, a tsunami would strike and have a horrifying impact. Considering how Yukinoshita has high status, rescuers are sent to specifically rescue Yukinoshita which they are successful at doing. However that leaves Hachiman and Yui still in the destruction and without support. As much as Yukinoshita pleads, the two don't get rescued. Eventually, after the tsunami dies out, the two are rescued by locals and sent to hospital. The doctors aren't able to do anything and therefore eventually one by one, both Yui then Hachiman die, leaving Yukinoshita in grief._**

 ** _Not to mention how the entire mood of the story would've been much darker and irrelevant moments would've been filled in with dark and depressing moments rather than casual humour. And obviously, there wouldn't have been a road trip at all._**

 ** _Anyways, that's what would've happened. Looking back, I don't regret my decision at all. I'm glad that I made this a calm fic that has been appreciated by so many of you readers. Supposedly, there should be two more chapters after this but there's a possibility of it finishing in one._**

 ** _As for the talented anime characters, a big thank you to everyone who suggested me any. However, the problem seems to be that too many of them are related to music. Considering how I haven't got enough variety yet, I might as well use few of the ones you've suggested and then add a few random made-up acts. Nevertheless, it would always help if you could suggest talented anime characters who have a talent NOT related to music. Thank you._**

 ** _On the other hand, for Yui's final performance, she'll be singing a Japanese song. Now I know I've mentioned before that I've listened to Japanese music however it's not the type that would suit Yui. Hence, if you have any suggestions as to what Japanese song I could use(outside of the Oregairu franchise), please let me know._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- 6 years later**

"Hmmm..." Hummed Takahiro with a serious expression whilst he held Sarutobi's speech, which had been skillfully modified by me. "You do know what these words mean, right?"

"I most certainly do."

"Let me ask you again. Do you-"

"YES! I know the definitions of the words I've added onto the speech."

In the scorching heat of the day, Takahiro starts dripping sweat in response to what I had done.

"You do realise I'll be held responsible for this by Sarutobi-san."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Everything. Yoshitori-san might find out."

"As soon as Sarutobi tells Yoshitori-san about it, he loses all the reputation he has."

"But still... the purpose of this speech being in English is that other employees are motivated to practice the language themselves. Besides, is that what you really want? To get Sarutobi-san fired?" That question helped ask myself a different question. _Do I really want to get this guy fired?_

The answer was no. I didn't want him to lose his job. I'm not the one to control how much money he earns and who he works for. The motive of my action is only to put the guy in his place and hopefully stop what he's doing. I'm aware of how he physically destroyed me. However, that's not as bad as losing your source of income simply over a petty disagreement between two people who've recently met.

"It's fine... I can deal with that." I replied.

"How can you be so sure?"

"My speech is scheduled to be right after his."

"Seriously? That's not enough of a reassurance-"

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." Hence, the conversation came to a close. It was now time to wait patiently until the arrival of that ceremony. Oh... and also Yuigahama's finale is coming up after that. Nearly forgot about that one. Myself and Yukinoshita will actually be going to watch it live. As creepy as it may sound, Yukinoshita seems to have gone out of her way to do some research on all the other finalists. _Seriously... who does that? That's just... eww. Is that how bored Yukinoshita is right now? She really needs to get a job as soon as possible._

* * *

As per usual, my dinner is taken care of by the only woman who I know that lives in Tokyo and can cook edible food. _Yeah... not random at all._ Trust me, her cooking has improved over the years if there was any room for improvement in the first place. I guess that's inevitable as a result of eating food that might as well be stored somewhere in a museum because of how expensive and high-quality it is. Anyways, whilst said person cooked, I decided to indulge myself in a conversation with the other woman in the house.

"Hey... Yuigahama..." I began. "... you prepared for your finale?" I don't know why but I almost sounded like a father asking his son if he's prepared for his exams whilst knowing that the answer will be no.

"Yes." _Seriously?_ "Not 100% though." That's almost like a no then. "I wanted to do another English song however Yukinon really insisted me to do a Japanese song so that's what I'm doing."

"Good decision I'd say."

"I don't get it. I did so well in the auditions with an English song though."

"That's because you spent so much time on it that you completely understood the song. You won't be able to master an English song quickly without understanding the language itself." As I confidently expressed my views to Yuigahama, a certain thought struck my head. Or rather, it was an idea. "Hey... will you be free this coming Friday?"

I silently waited for a response.

Waited some more...

And more...

 _Did she die or something?_

"O-O-Of course I am! What is it?"

"I was simply wondering if you'd like to accompany me for my newcomer's ceremony. It's not something to start hesitating about. You can either say yes or no."

She placed the piece of paper she was holding onto a table and placed her right hand on her chin, contemplating on what decision to make. "Sure! Why not?" _She seems excited._

"Listen to me very carefully. I'd recommend you to not comply to my request if you're fairly unsatisfied with your preparation. The priority is for you to get as much preparation as possible. Besides, this outing will be nothing but for solely educational purposes." _Did she even understand half of what I just said?_

"What... educational purposes?"

"This will explain you the importance of understanding a language before using it." I switched my gaze towards Yukinoshita to see if she had reacted. Her soft and innocent smirk told me more than enough. She knew exactly what I was referring to. "Yukinoshita, you can come along as well if you're interested by any chance." _She has no reason to reject anyway._

"No." Her cold voice froze the entire atmosphere including water somewhere in Sahara desert(if there is any). "I'll be occupied by work-related activities during the upcoming Friday."

"So you seem to have finally decided on what job you're going into." _About time as well._ "So what job is it?"

"Anyways, food is prepared. Please take your seats on the table." _Umm... I believe I asked a question._ "There were too many tomatoes in the house so I've decided to use up all of them in this meal." _What a bitch..._

* * *

I know what you're thinking. _"8man, why you not making any funny jokes? I'll unfavorite and unfollow right now!"_ Listen, bare with me here, okay? I'm dead nervous about what will happen in the newcomer's ceremony. Informally put, I'm shitting bricks right now. But you know what? You're right. It's my responsibility to make something out of this situation. How careless of me! As a result, I've decided to tell you all a little secret. I know everyone wants to know the name of the woman whom I have feelings for. So here goes...

Ahem...

The name is-

"Hikki!"

"What?"

"So where am I supposed to sit?" Yuigahama kept rotating her head to imply she's actually trying to figure out where in the large room she was supposed to sit in. In truth, she wasn't really trying, was she?

"Yuigahama... what does that board say right there?"

"'Guests'..."

"What are you?"

"A guest!" _Bravo! What a breakthrough! A round of applause for 3 year-old Yuigahama Yui please!_

"Listen... take a seat and only move if you need the washroom, okay? You don't want to miss what will happen, okay?"

"Jeez Hikki you're serious about this."

"As I said, it's for your educational purposes. Anyways, I'll be off now." I left once Yuigahama was comfortably seated. This was it. I didn't expect myself to be so nervous about a speech that I'm not even conducting. _Wait a second... why do I feel like I was going to say something but I got interrupted? Oh well... I forgot._

The agenda of the ceremony was simple. Yoshitori-san would give an introductory speech to everyone to start with. By the time he finishes, everyone will be in hibernation but fortunately the next speech is by the vice-chairman who also happens to be the head of the department I'm working under. Remember that informal guy? Yeah... him. Once everyone hopefully wakes up, it will be the newcomers' turn to conduct their speeches. Due to myself and Sarutobi being 'special' newcomers if that's how you want to say it, we'll be speaking after all the 'regular' newcomers have spoken. More specifically, Sarutobi will actually be speaking before me. As a result, I'll be the one who shall clean up the mess that will be left on the stage. However, that's exactly what I wanted...

As I reached the backstage, my eyes instinctively searched for Sarutobi Tobi. There he was, memorising the speech in front of him, giving it utmost importance by the look on his face. He was more than just 'determined'. He was desperate... to give a successful speech. Given how he had been so desperate to be successful, one might look at his desire and call him a wise man. But then again, a certain quote says...

 _"It is a characteristic of wisdom... not to do desperate things."_

"Good evening! To all you wonderful people joining us for the Yoshitori corporations' 34th annual newcomer's ceremony." The CEO of the company had begun his speech. Whilst he continued monotonously, few thoughts and questions rushed to my brain as time went on.

Firstly, the purpose of Sarutobi's speech being in English was to motivate other employees into improving their knowledge of English. Surely that's a good motive. However, I have indeed come up with an idea to humiliate Sarutobi and get the motivation across, at the same time. _Phew..._

Secondly, this is a very big and prestigious company. Even if I save Sarutobi from losing his job, the company still won't fare well when it comes to the media _._ The solution to that came to me quicker than I had expected. The head of my department uses loads of informal language, surely Yoshitori-san can end up forgiving Sarutobi, or even me when the time comes... surely...

Thirdly, will Yuigahama get the message? With everything else happening around me, I couldn't care less.

And lastly, what would happen if I were to lose my job as a result of this 'scandal'? Nothing much. I'll have to live with Yukinoshita and Yuigahama for a few weeks whilst I look for another job. It shouldn't be a massive problem however, the fact that I haven't any practice in interviews, I may be at the slightest disadvantage.

That reminds me... interviews... eww. Probably the most pretentious professional conversations you could have. There is simply no room for honesty. For example, when the interviewer asks you _"Why did you apply for this job?"_ , realistically the answer is _"I want money"_ however, you better say something like _"The reason behind me applying for this position is that I truly feel inspired by what you've done and achieved in the society and I want to part of that. I want to be part of the force that emits positivity in the society I live in." DO YOU GET WHAT I MEAN?_

Another example...

Interviewer: _"What are your weaknesses?"_

Again, realistically you would like to be honest and say something along the lines of _"I'm not punctual."_ or _"I get distracted easily."_ BUT NO! When the interviewer asks for your weaknesses, they are pretty much asking for another one of your strengths. However, what they do want to see is that how good you are at phrasing that strength in such a way that it may come across as a weakness. In a court, one takes an oath to tell the truth no matter what. However in interviews... _FUCK THAT SHIT! TRUTH? What even is that?_

To any kids reading this right now, first of all, pardon my language. And secondly... listen carefully, okay? When your parents tell you that lying will get you nowhere, trust me, it will get you a job.

 _Someone needs to stop me before I rage even more about interviews. Please! Someone! Sto-_

"Thank you very much. Next, I'd like to invite my friend Fumihiro Hiro, the vice-chairman of this company, to say a few words. These words however, may not be ones we want to hear." _What does he mean by that?_

Fumihiro Hiro, the head of my department, and also the vice-chairman of Yoshitori corporations, went up to the stage. His body language indicated a lack of confidence and mental potency, which was kind of eccentric coming from someone like him.

"G-Good evening everyone." _Is something wrong?_ "I'm sure you're all wondering what these words are. Well, I shall not beat around the bush with this. After 26 years of serving the Yoshitori corporations..." He paused as he looked down at the floor. His hands were shaking and he looked adamant to not carry on. It was quite obvious now what he was going to say... "I... have decided to move on." There was a loud collective moan from majority of the crowd in response to the declaration. "I feel proud... to have worked with some brilliant individuals over these past 26 years, and I assure you, that no matter what, the experiences, the happy moments, the difficult moments, in fact every single moment, will stay in my heart for as long as I live. Now I know that you expected the vice chairman to speak considerably more than this, however if I speak any longer, you will have to witness a grown man cry in a professional ceremony. Therefore, for my sake, and also yours, thank you..." He pauses once more as the inevitable tear makes its way down his face. It was a sorry sight, but given I hadn't known him for too long, the emotions didn't reach me. Nonetheless, Mr Informal man, I dedicate Sarutobi's speech... to you. "... and goodbye."

As time passed by, the so-named 'regular' newcomers arrived one by one to give their speeches. It must've been hard for them. The entire mood was dull due to what the vice-chairman had said, therefore these newcomers had their speeches regarded pretty much as completely irrelevant. However, that dull mood was bound to eventually expire by the time...

"Next, I would like to introduce everyone here to the two men that I took the privilege to invite here myself. These men have the ability that I crave for. These men are potentially the future of this company. Therefore, please welcome, firstly, Sarutobi Tobi." The loud applause greeted the man who walked confidently towards the stage. _It's all yours mate..._

During the short time he spent walking towards the mic, the entire original speech was being recapped inside my head...

 _"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sarutobi Tobi. I hope you're all having a good day today. I'm here to speak about... myself... and some things you need to know about myself before we begin our journey together in Yoshitori corporations._

 _I want to use this opportunity to unveil my personality to all of you here. I sincerely hope that I don't come across as arrogant about this. I just want everyone here to embrace my personality and I want to be as honest about it as possible._

 _As a professional, I'm a dedicated hard-worker and ensure positive results. Anyone who will have to work alongside me in the future, you don't have to be worried about distraction. I will make sure that you won't be distracted and as a result, I'd expect similar treatment from you. That brings me on to my next point. I also strongly believe that I'm someone who can manage distraction pretty well. Trust me, distraction is a very annoying thing to experience, and also a very hard thing to manipulate. I strongly believe that I possess the skill of manipulating distraction, and hopefully I can help others develop it too._

 _If any of you ever want to consult something, I'm someone who'll readily accept anyone's viewpoints. So please... don't feel shy. When you share your viewpoints with me, I'll also share with you mine. This is one of my ways I hope to improve my relationship by generating a positive synergy with everyone present here, listening to my speech._

 _As any other human being, I've got flaws as well. The work related flaw of mine that comes to mind is that... I'm a very serious person. Hence, you won't find me joking around with people in order to bring a smile to their face. I wish I could do that. The ability to joke around and make everyone feel cheerful is something I wish I had. But then again... I'm not a joker. I'm sure many of you here are though. And I mean that positively._

 _To conclude, I'd like to address something that I feel like is an important part of all of our lives here. And that is... luck. Let's admit it, everyone here has experienced luck at least once in their lives. I've actually been lucky enough that the CEO of this company itself has invited me to work here. With that being said, to the CEO and to everyone here..._

 _Thank you."_

It was now time... for the same speech... 8man version.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sarutobi Tobi. I hope you're all having a good day today. I'm here to speak about... myself... and some things you need to know about myself before we begin our journey together in Yoshitori corporations." So far so good... for Sarutobi. It is probably worth reminding that even though not many people in the audience are good at English, they probably know enough to understand the modifications I've made to the speech.

"I want to use this opportunity to unveil my personal titties to all of you here. I sincerely hope that I don't come across as arrogant about this. I just want everyone here to embrace my personal titties and I want to be as honest about them as possible." _Strike 1._ There were few giggles across the audience. It seemed as if people let that one slide because they probably felt sympathetic towards the fact that he may not have a great English-speaking accent.

"As a professional, I'm a dedicated hard-worker and ensure positive results. Anyone who will have to work alongside me in the future, you don't have to be worried about dick extraction. I will make sure that you won't be dick extracted and as a result, I'd expect similar treatment from you. That brings me on to my next point. I also strongly believe that I'm someone who can manage dick extraction pretty well. Trust me, dick extraction is a very annoying thing to experience, and also a very hard thing to manipulate. I strongly believe that I possess the skill of manipulating dick extraction, and hopefully I can help others develop it too." _Strike 2._ There were clear noises of laughter as the vocabulary he used started becoming unforgivable.

"If any of you ever want to consult something, I'm someone who'll readily accept anyone's virginities. So please... don't feel shy. When you share your virginities with me, I'll also share with you mine. This is one of my ways I hope to improve my relationship by generating a positive synergy with everyone present here, listening to my speech." _Strike 3._ Yoshitori-san now looked furious as the words he now used didn't even exist. The word 'virginities' does not exist in the English language according to what Yukinoshita said. She's really been going out of her way to teach me English. The audience aside, Sarutobi still looked confident, and probably presumed that all the laughter may be a form of appreciation to him speaking English.

"As any other human being, I've got flaws as well. The work related flaw of mine that comes to mind is that... I'm a very serious person. Hence, you won't find me jerking around with people in order to bring a smile to their face. I wish I could do that. The ability to jerk around and make everyone feel cheerful is something I wish I had. But then again... I'm not a jerker. I'm sure many of you here are though. And I mean that positively." _Strike 4. Nahh mate... you don't mean that positively, do you?_

"To conclude, I'd like to address something that I feel like is an important part of all of our lives here. And that is..." _Here we go..._ "... fuck. Let's admit it, everyone here has experienced fuck at least once in their lives. I've actually been fucky enough that the CEO of this company itself has invited me to work here. With that being said, to the CEO and to everyone here...

Fuck you."

There was a mixture of amusement and rage in the audience as the reaction to the speech was exactly what I had expected. But there was one more thing to be done...

Amidst the jeers and immature cheers, I made my way out uninvited. Remembering what Yukinoshita had taught me, I walked straight towards the microphone and said in fluent English...

"And that's why, ladies and gentlemen, it's good to UNDERSTAND English... not just know it." The crowd almost goes pin-drop silent once I finished my sentence. After taking a glance at Sarutobi's embarrassed face, I continued. "The purpose of the speech being in colloquial English is to convincingly express the importance of understanding a language before using it. Myself and Mr Sarutobi came up with this idea once he informed me about the prospect of conducting the speech in English. Hence, to anyone feeling appalled by the nature of the speech, I, Hikigaya Hachiman, am here to announce that it was all part of a productive idea in order to motivate everyone here into UNDERSTANDING English, not just knowing few words of it. From behalf of myself and Mr Sarutobi, thank you." There was certainly something awkward about the silence in the hall. _I guess there goes my job._

Slowly, the CEO of the company stands up from his seat. He walked towards the microphone like a Hollywood villain. Just as he reached the two of us, he grabbed the microphone away from my face, and brought it closer to his. With an unexpected smile, he began to speak. "And that's why... these two are special." The entire crowd erupts into an applause as the feeling of triumph overcame me. I had succeeded in teaching Sarutobi a lesson whilst also being able to hold on to my job and letting him keep his. Things could not have gone any better. "Alright gentlemen if you could now take your seats in the audience thank you very much." _Okay maybe not._ As he finished speaking, there was a look on his face which indicated that he was slightly unsatisfied at the same time. Although, knowing him, it shouldn't go on to be a big deal later on.

I walked straight to the seat assigned for me without even looking back at Sarutobi's face. He better have learnt his lesson. If not, well... he would not have another chance to learn it.

As I comfortably sat down in relief, all I could do now is live through the remainder of the ceremony then leave with Yuigahama. _What now, eh?_

"Right... so now, as we all have heard Fumihiro-san announce his unfortunate resignation, it's time to announce the new vice-chairman of this company. I'm extremely honoured, to welcome to the stage... Miss Yukinoshita Yukino." _What the duck?!_

Approaching the stage, was the one and only... Yukinoshita Yukino. _What the actual duck?!_

My eyes became paralysed as I simply could not believe what I was seeing. The reason behind her having that private conversation with Yoshitori-san, the reason behind her not telling me about what job she had taken... she was going to join the Yoshitori corporations all along.

"Good evening everyone." began the ice queen herself. "Some of you may know me. Some of you may not." _I certainly don't._ "Regardless, my name... is Yukinoshita Yukino. I will not only be the vice-chairman of this company, but also the head of the department that was previously led by Fumihiro-san." _Please tell me that's a lie._ "I most certainly look forward to working with you all in order to improve the world of novel editing. With that being said, it seems as if time is against me speaking for much longer. Therefore, I'd like to hand the microphone back to Yoshitori-san in order to speak a final few words before this evening draws to a close. Thank you very much." I was probably the only person in the audience to not applaud as Yukinoshita made her way out of the stage.

As it turns out, I, Hikigaya Hachiman, will be working directly under Yukinoshita Yukino in a job that I dreamed of having. _Can someone please give me some bleach? I beg you..._

The ceremony came to a close, I obligingly waited to drive both women to their home before returning to mine. For some reason, I suddenly felt weirdly excited about working under Yukinoshita. Because if it was going to be a challenge for me, it will be even more of a challenge for her. It's just that I feel more ready for the challenge than she could ever be. _Challenge accepted._

As I contemplated on challenges, a sudden reminder hit me regarding the biggest challenge the three of us will have to face. Well... not really the three of us... just Yuigahama. That's right... the finale of the competition.

It was a matter of now or never as Yuigahama prepared for her final performance which will decide her fate in the world of entertainment. And potentially, the fate of the service club... 6 years later.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _ **Yeah I don't know what I was thinking when I said "I might finish it in one(chapter)". Oh well... at least I can say it now. The next and last chapter will obviously include the finale for which you, my wonderful readers, have recommended songs about 4 times more than talented anime characters. I only needed one song and I got about 40(including PMs... thanks WooHyeon). I needed 10 characters and I've got enough but some of them will have to be left out to add diversity to the contest. All that aside, hopefully you liked this chapter. More 4th wall breaking was something I was afraid to do but... oh well.**_

 _ **And also... thank you for 100 favorites! The follows will go after the story ends but favorites usually stay(hopefully). I did reach 100 favorites at a certain point however someone unfavorited which meant I was back at 99 for a few more days. As annoying as it was, it's fine now because I've reached 102 favorites so hopefully it doesn't go back down below 100 again. HOPEFULLY!**_

 ** _I'm still accepting character suggestions but I don't need any more song suggestions. Specifically, if there's any group of talented anime guys who can sing or dance or do both, that would be very helpful. The group must at least contain 5 members. Thank you._**

 ** _After listening to the recommended songs(most of them), I have come up with a shortlist of some songs to choose from. It would be helpful if you could vote from the following:_**

 ** _1) Supercell- Sayonara memories(As recommended by WooHyeon)  
2) Supercell- Perfect day(WooHyeon again)  
3) Yui- Again(As recommended by My name is Jeff... by the way I'm a guy.)  
4) Mai Kuraki- Koi ni koishite(As recommended by... me!)  
5) Emilia- Stay alive(As recommended by Restraint)  
_**

 ** _RizalIsal, FireHero, and JustReader17... commiserations._**

 ** _If you really want to... you can still recommend other songs however please only do so if you think they genuinely stand a chance._**

 ** _Anyways..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note** **: This chapter will contain plenty of songs. If you are someone who does play the music in the background, I'd recommend you to keep a YouTube tab open in order to make things easier. If you are someone who dislikes long chapters, I'd recommend you to skip through all the songs without reading the lyrics.**_

 _ **Oh yeah... I don't own Oregairu. About time I said that as well.**_

 _ **And please don't forget to read the final author's note at the end.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 12- Ahh... they've grown.**

"On a serious note, I expected you to have been slightly more enraged than this." As we made our way to the theatre, a certain someone kept reminding me about how I'll be working directly under her.

"You're the one who should be worried." I replied nonchalantly as I stared out of my car's window during the infuriating traffic jam.

"And why is that?"

"As you may know, Yoshitori-san isn't the smartest of people you'd see. I can guarantee you that he made you the vice-president purely based on the fact that you're a Yukinoshita. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out that he kicked the vice-chairman out just so you could get that position. It will bring a lot of money and reputation instantly."

"Although that is a rather well-thought statement, I must inform you that I only approached him after I found out that the previous vice-chairman will be resigning."

"I wonder why that happened literally weeks after the unemployed daughter of the Yukinoshita family moved into Tokyo alongside someone who works for the Yoshitori corporations..."

"You're thinking too much. I don't think Yoshitori-san would go that far just because I moved to Tokyo. He wouldn't have any sort of guarantee that I would've approached him."

"Okay okay I was just joking."

"Even if you were, how's all that got to do with me being worried about having this position?"

"Well... that basically means that you haven't been given that role based on your skills, but rather based on your background."

"So according to you, I don't have the skills to outperform you?"

"You may... you may not... who knows..."

"Whilst the best you got was the third rank in literature back in school, would you like to guess what rank I got?"

"Well..."

"I guess we have a conclusion th-"

"Wouldn't it be embarrassing if you're unable to lead the department?" As harsh it may sound, I had to be honest with her. "You may be intelligent, but you don't seem to be a leader, do you?"

"W-What do you mean? I was pretty much the one who led the school during our cultural festival."

"There's one kind of leadership where you sit and do most of the paperwork, and there's a different kind of leadership where you dominate a group of adults, some of them who may be twice your age."

"In that case it would be interesting to see your face after I _lead_ you."

"Why did you have to make that sound so weird?"

"So I'm the weird one here?"

"Why not? It's not always me who's weird."

Silence fills the car as we slightly inch forwards in the traffic jam.

"It actually is." Yukinoshita ever-so-kindly breaks that peaceful silence.

"Seriously?"

"Hey... you should at least be grateful that I gave it a thought."

"I respectfully offer my gratitude, Yukinoshita-sama." I replied sarcastically as the will to converse was expiring.

"Hmmm... say that again..."

"Say what again?"

"What you just said before."

"I respectfully offer my gratitude." _Come on Sherlock I was being sarcastic._

"No no no... what you said after that."

"Yukinoshita... -sama..."

"Get some practice saying that. I'll be your head after all."

"Not for long..." I softly mumbled to myself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing... _Yuki-chan..._ "

"Now that's just gross to an unknown level... even by your standards."

"Hey... did you think that I would just comply to you asking for unnecessary respect?"

"You're still finding it hard to accept it, aren't you?"

"Well-"

"Besides, recently I've taught you so many new things like speaking English, playing the drums, and even eating tomatoes." _Okay the last one was just gross to an unknown level... even by my standards._ "So you might as well consider me as some sort of a... teacher."

"Wouldn't you say that myself and Yuigahama... taught you a better way to live... _sensei?_ " The question was supposed to come across as some sort of a casual insult, however the awkward pause in my speech suggested otherwise. This was when a different question struck me. "Tell me... what would your life be like had it not been for the service club?"

Unsurprisingly, she took her time with this question. Soon enough though, her soft voice spoke up again. "What would it be like, eh?" _FIND OUT IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF-_

 _Shut up Hachiman... this is a serious question._

"What would you say?" she asked. That was enough for me to come to a conclusion. She was just like me. I refused to imagine a life where the service club hadn't existed. That's because... it would make me scared. Imagining Hikigaya Hachiman's life without the service club would be like imagining the human race without eyes. Truthfully, and all jokes aside, every time I would even come close to trying to think about my life in that way, I would stop myself before I see Hikigaya Hachiman in a state that could traumatise me for the remainder of my life, and make me feel pathetic about my current self . Hence, I choose not to think that way. And hence... I've come to a conclusion. _I need to change the topic._

"What was the name of the song for which you taught me how to play drums?"

"Oh... you mean 'Nevereverland'?" _Sounds like a lullaby._

"Whatever that is... why are you even going out of your way to teach me this kind of stuff? I will gain absolutely no benefits from learning to play drums on a song that is mainly based on guitars."

"Now don't tell me that you have better ways to spend your free time..."

"But why go out of your way to teach me this?"

"Because you said you could play the drums and also because I was kind enough to purchase loads of musical instruments in order to help Yuigahama-san practice better."

"Firstly, no... I said that I can play drums only for the song I had written myself. And secondly, why would you buy drums to help someone practice singing?"

"You might want to ask that question to the Yukinoshita Yukino from two weeks ago."

"Does my name sound like 'Fujinuma Satoru' to you?" **[1]**

"Does the traffic light look red to you?" _What?_

I snapped out of my half-asleep state and looked forward towards the traffic signal. It was green and presuming from the amount of honks from behind me, it had been green for a considerable amount of time. _Whoops! Just don't look back, Hachiman! They will throw a knife at you... you'll die... Komachi will cry... she'll marry Shitia... and- OKAY THAT'S IT! The last one was enough._

As I drove through the traffic signal like a madman, I left a bunch of unfortunate drivers behind. I'm sure that these drivers will remember my number plate for as long as they live. _By the way my number plate is 88888888. Yeah... seriously..._

Anyways, at least the conversation has ended thankfu-

"Hikigaya-kun, if you have problems looking at the traffic lights then maybe I should take you to the optician that prepared these glasses for me. Maybe you'll even look good for once."

"Forget opticians. That was more like optimism." _Wait no! That was a dead joke! Why? Author why are you doing this to me?_

"Sounds like you need a doctor more than anything."

"Seriously though... there's nothing wrong with me."

"Sounds like you need a psychologist more than anything."

"Look at me... do actually I look deformed enough to be worthy of all these insults?"

"Sounds like you need a surgeon more than anything."

"Sounds like you need to be silent more than anything."

"In that case I'll write all the phone numbers for recommendable opticians, doctors, psychologists, and surgeons. Let me just put on my glasses..." _N-Na-N-_ _Nandathho?_ **["What?!" in Japanese.]**

"W-Waaaiiit a second. I don't think that's a good idea."

"What?"

"I-I'd recommend you to take your glasses off immediately if you don't want your name to appear in tomorrow's newspaper article which will be named 'COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN A CAR CRASH. DRIVER PARALYZED'." A part of me wanted to break the rear-view mirror so that I don't feel tempted to look at it every two seconds. Thankfully, she complied and removed her glasses from her eyes, although I'm not exactly sure she knew what I was talking about.

"What do you mean by 'couple'?" _Seriously? That's the only bit you got from what I just said?_

"W-Well... I'm not implying our relationship to be that of a couple's. When I said 'couple', I kept in mind how newspaper articles would put that as the title regardless of whether it's true or not. It will go on to make readers feel more sympathetic about the event. Think about it, if we were to die in a car crash, the journalists won't go out of their way to find the true magnitude of our relationship. If they did, the title would be something like 'ACQUAINTANCES WHO DO NOTHING BUT INSULT EACH OTHER BUT AT THE SAME TIME SHARE AWKWARD FLIRTATIOUS MOMENTS WHILST KNOWING THAT THEY ARE ALREADY FRIENDS BUT REFUSE TO ADMIT IT FOR SOME REASON UNKNOWN TO MANKIND FOUND DEAD IN A CAR CRASH. DRIVER PARALYZED'."

As the silence marked the end of the conversation yet again, I could only hope that it won't restart yet aga-

"Hachiman..." _Oh for God's sake! W-W-Wa-Wait... what did she call me? Or did I hear Totsuka's voice? Please let it be Totsuka..._

"What... is it?"

"Can you call me what you called me a while ago?" _Dafuq she just said?_

"I don't get what you're trying to say."

"Can you call me by the name you gave me a few minutes ago?" _Where did Tostuka go?_

"Yukinoshita-sama?"

"N-No... the other one..."

"Yuki-... chan?"

"Umm... umm..." This was getting way too awkward for my liking. But I wanted to know why... she wanted me to say that. "I don't know why but it just sounded... good."

"Weren't you the one ripping me apart saying how creepy it is?"

"That was truly by instinct. That's how I seem to react to pretty much everything you do." _And I don't really mind that..._ "Say... if I call you 'Hachi-kun'... how does it make you feel?" _'Hachi-kun'? Okay then. To all my fans across this planet... I'm not 8man anymore. I am 8kun... remember that, okay?_

Meanwhile, my serious brain cells came up with a response, that even I didn't expect. "It sounded weird, and creepy..." But the more time I spent thinking about it, the clearer the true answer became to me. "Above all, it sounded..." _It's fine... just say it. You're 24 for God's sake._ "... cute. Very... cute."

The air around us felt unusually warmer, despite the air conditioner unconditionally conditioning the air just how an air conditioner is supposed to condition the air without any conditions. _Terms and conditions applied._ The next thing that any one of us would say... could end up changing our relationship... for better or worse.

*RING* *RING* *RING* _Clich_ _é awkward moment-interrupting phone call... yay! Nice one author! Your ideas are so unique!_

"Hello..." I responded on the phone.

"Yooooo... Hikitani-kun!"

"To-Tobe?"

"Y'know how Hayato-kun is injured and everythin' yeah... we are plannin' to do a high school reunion for him. Ya weren't invited or anythin'... it's just that I ain't got a +1 like pretty much everyone else has and shit y'know what I mean? So I was like... yeah man... I can always invite Hikitani-kun. Ya won't have any girlfriends or friends to worry about so come we can just chop it off y'know. So-"

*BEEP* *BEEP* I hung up the phone before his voice gave me stroke. And just as I do so, the large structure of the theatre becomes clearly visible to my eyes. The surroundings were rather empty as I suspect I missed the initial bullshit performances by guests which hold no significance to me whatsoever. The process of parking the car and pacing towards the theatre all happened far too quickly for me to recall.

* * *

Eventually, there we were, inside the venue which we won't leave before having the conclusion to the contest which Yuigahama worked ever-so-hardly for. Well... unless ISIS attacks, then we're all doomed. Duck the conclusion. I'll be running out without giving two shits.

As we moved towards our seats, there was already a performance going on. Fortunately, it wasn't Yuigahama's. However, we didn't know if she had given her performance already or not. It wouldn't hurt asking anyone though...

As we found our seats in the midst of the sizable arena, I felt uneasy in the uncertainty that Yuigahama may have already performed. Yukinoshita was rather mute, so there's no point in expecting her to find out the answer to the lingering question inside my head. I guess I had to do it myself.

"Excuse me..." I softly spoke to the person sitting on the left side of me.

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me how many performances have taken place?"

"Oh... this is about the second one." _How late are we?_

"By any chance... has Yuigahama Yui... performed yet?"

"Oh... the really hot girl with big tits? No." _I don't know whether to be glad that she hasn't performed yet, or whether to be pissed at the language he's using to describe my friend._ "Hey... I think I know you."

"Umm... I don't think so..." The longer I looked at him, the creepier he seemed.

"What's your name?"

"Hikigaya... Hachiman."

"Actually nevermind." _Creepy bastard..._

As the break dancer onstage continued with his performance, I caught a glance of Yukinoshita fiddling with some papers.

"Oi... what are you doing?" I asked.

"Searching for the reports I made on the contestants who I feel would possess the largest threat to Yuigahama-san's chances of winning this competition." _Reports? Seriously?_

The loud noise of the applause marked the end of what had been an irrelevant performance... at least for us. "Say... Yukinoshita... was this guy one of the contestants we're supposed be afraid of?"

"Let's see... Ayuma Aikawa... no... not really." **[2]**

Meanwhile, the host had announced the departure of the break dancer and...

"So... the next performance... the group of young men who have taken this competition by the scruff of its neck. Please welcome... JXJ!" As the lights on the stage go dim and the the screen shows the promo for the performance, I looked at Yukinoshita, expecting to hear what her 'report' had to say about them.

"Well...?" I waited patiently for her to begin speaking.

"Do you mind reading it?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's just that I really can't be bothered to find my glasses and-"

"I'll read it." She handed me one sheet of paper which had 'JXJ' written on top. Instead of reading the whole thing, I scanned through for notable points. "Okay... so it seems like they are one of the less talented contestants but possess the most threat to Yuigahama's chances. Interesting..."

"That's because of three reasons." Yukinoshita began. "Firstly, the group has nine members mixed with some who can sing, some who can rap, and some who can dance. The fact that there are so many members, means that each singer and rapper only has to sing or rap about two to three lines at a stretch. This improves the overall quality of the performance. On the other hand, whilst dancing, the best dancers are at the front for everyone to see, whilst everyone else is at the back with their satisfactory at best dance moves. In other words, the group as a whole is not talented. Only certain members are talented in certain aspects but don't even have to show it throughout the entire performance. As a result, the performance would seem good even though there is a lack of talent on display. Secondly, these group of men undoubtedly have good looks and physique. Therefore, whenever necessary, they have the choice of revealing their abdominal muscles to distract the audience from the quality of the actual performance. And that is enough for the younger generation of girls to give their votes away. And thirdly, there is a rumour that after singing two Japanese songs, for the final they will be singing a Korean song. Again... what happens here is that the younger generation of girls will blindly give away their votes simply based on that fact. It's normal in this competition to hear Japanese songs, but having someone sing a Korean song would quite obviously attract a lot more attention, especially from the younger generation of girls who are more associated with Korean music." Just as she finishes, the performance begins... **[Song: EXO-'Monster'. I know... JXJ is not from an anime. There are few reasons why I've included this though. I'll explain in the A/N. Lets see if you can keep up with a Korean song though:p]**

The nine members of the group have begun with some dance moves, just as the part with vocals arrived...

"She got me goin' crazy  
wae simjangi ttwini" _Only two lines at a stretch..._

"neon areumdawo naui goddess  
dathyeoiji Yeah yeah"

"dudeuril teni nal deuryeo bonaellae?" _Only one line..._

"gamchwojin seurireul julkke"

"nundongjaui hogisime imi neon ppajyeodeureogo"

"Don't be afraid,  
Love is the way,  
Shawty I got it.  
You can call me monster"

"I'm creeping in your heart babe  
dwijipgo muneoteurigo samkyeo  
geurae neol humchyeo tamnikhae"

"neol mangchyeo noheulgeoya"

"ne mamsoge gagindoen chae  
jugeodo yeongwonhi sallae"

"Come here girl,  
You call me monster"

"ne mameuro deureogalge"

"She got me gone crazy(Oh yeah, she got me)  
wae simjangi ttwini(Oh yeah, oh yeah she got me)"

"naega jom seonggyeogi geuphae  
geudak onsunhaji mothae"

"Neol miwohaesso"

"hajiman neoreul wonhae" _Hachiman no rule won hey?_

"That's right, my type"

"gaseumeun geojinmal an hae"

"sijakdwaesseo nae aneseo  
wiheomhan sinhoreul bonae"

"Don't be afraid,  
love is the way,  
Shawty I got it.  
You can call me monster"

As the chorus repeats itself, let me use this opportunity to give you my evaluation of this performance. There is no doubt that certain members are good at singing, and certain members are good at dancing. Overall, from the point of view of an average viewer, the performance was fantastic. However, the problem still remains that each talent isn't being elaborated on. The chorus had all nine members including the rappers singing. If anyone messes up, there's at least five others who won't. There was still the rapping bit to go anyways, just as the chorus ended...

"jeonyuri wa ni salmeul da"  
dwijibeo beorineun ge"

"I'm sorry, you make me so crazy  
You know you do" _Here it comes..._

"modu nal duryeowohae  
So I'm untouchable man  
geunde ne jinshimeun wae gyeolguge  
nal geobu mothae" A different rapper arrives...

"sumeoseo humchyeobodaga  
kkamjjak nollaji (Who?)  
negen antinomi gateun  
nan ne jonjaeye ilbu (How we do?)"

"nal geudaero badadeuryeo"

"neoye duryeoun geokjeongeun jeobeo duryeom"

"niga gyeondil manhan gotongeul nuryeo  
deo gipi ppajyeodeureo" _It seems like the Korean language has some racist terms..._

"neol mamdaero gajigo nora  
nae soneseo mamkkeot nora

"domanggaji ma neon yeongwonhi maemdora brah"

"You can call me monster"

The chorus was sung for one last time as the performance eventually came to a close. **[Song end.]**

The audience gave them a standing ovation for their performance. This may contradict what I said before but... if the performance entertained me, I will appreciate it. And it did... but then... this performance shouldn't win them the competition. This is a talent competition. Did they have extraordinary talent that deserves recognition from the entire country? No. But the younger generation of the girls will disagree with me. _I swear if Komachi votes for them..._

Overall, you have to give them some credit for being able to sing a Korean song which sounded like it had some complex terms in there. It's also worth mentioning that they had the guts and the intelligence to do it. They knew that Korean songs are very popular among the younger generations, therefore, they ended up being brave enough to sing a song of that language and they didn't look very uncomfortable doing it.

Meanwhile, as Yukinoshita handed me some more papers, I went through them in order to see who else poses a threat to Yuigahama's chances. _Arima Kousei, Suzumiya Haruhi, Kuroba Kaito, Shuichi Shindou, and Yuzuriha Inori... a pianist, a guitarist, a magician, a singer, and a singer... interesting..._ **[2]**

On the other hand, there were comedians, break dancers, rappers, and few more who didn't pose any threat according to Yukinoshita.

After some expected compliments from the judges, the host arrived once again...

"Next performance we have..." He resumed. "... Chiba's golden voice... please welcome... Yuigahama Yui!" _Ahem... well... no... I'm not feeling nervous... at all... not... at all..._

As per usual, the lights onstage go dim in order to allow the contestant to enter unnoticed whilst the promo is played on the large screen. Looking at Yuigahama's face on that screen, I realised, or rather reminded myself of one cruel truth. I want her to win this competition... but her winning this competition could cost our friendship. I may not have shown clear signs of it, but I most certainly cared about her. After leaving Chiba, I almost feel like Yuigahama is like a younger sister to me... even though she's older than me. So... as a brother... I wouldn't want this friendship to stand in the way to her success. And I'm almost certain that Yukinoshita feels similarly. Eventually, we might as well have to say goodbye to each other. Eventually, we might as well have to say...

... goodbye memories. **[As recommended by WooHyeon and also as per YOUR request... Song: Supercell- 'Sayonara Memories'. And because the lyrics are the only good thing I find about the song, I'll include the translated lyrics as well. Translations and lyrics may not be 100% accurate. I'd recommend you to either read the Japanese lyrics or English ones. Don't bother reading both if you're actually going to listen in the background... you'd find it hard to keep up.]**

"sakura ga saku yo  
minareta itsumo no sakamichi ni  
ah wakare wo"

 **["** **Oh blooming cherry blossoms on this hill road  
** **I have to say goodbye to you."]**

Those few lines were enough for me to conclude that, this is going to be a special performance. The stage now belongs to her, and her only. _Ahh... she better not ruin this..._

"naite waratta ano hibi  
nandaka kinou no koto no you  
kono michi wa sou mirai he tsuduku michi  
sonna ki ga shitano"

 **["** **Those days where we were crying and laughing  
** **Seemed like only yesterday.  
** **It feels like this road we've walked on  
** **Is leading towards the future"]**

"reinen yori hayai kaika yosou wo  
kimi wa ureshigatteta  
watashi wa waratte  
soudane -tte itta  
ato sukoshi shitara mou koko ni wa  
modorenai no ni"

 **["** **You were happy that  
** **Every year the blossoms bloomed earlier than expected  
** **I smiled and said 'it seems like it'.  
** **Just a little while more  
** **And we can't return to this place anymore"]**

"kotoba ja umaku ienai omoi wo  
kimi ni uchiakeru to shitara nante  
tsutaeyou?  
saisho de saigo  
itsuka issho ni kaetta michi wa  
watashi ni totte tokubetsu na omoide  
wasurenai yo  
sayonara memories" The strength in her voice during the chorus reminded me of her performance during the audience.

 **["** **I'll hold those indescribable feelings  
** **Of moments on this road we've walked on in my heart  
** **Do you remember that time when you  
** **Called out my name, and  
** **We walked home together in the evening  
** **I won't forget you,  
** **... goodbye memories"]**

"haru ga kitara sorezore no michi wo"

 **["** **When spring comes, each of these roads…]**

"mata aeru hi wo negatte  
'sayonara' chiisaku tsubuyaita  
sora wa ano hi to kawarazu aokute  
dakara chotto naketa"

 **["** **I prayed for a day where we would meet again  
** **As I silently mumbled 'Goodbye'.  
** **That day the sky was blue like always  
** **So I cried a little"]**

"wazato toomawari shita no  
sukoshi demo nagaku  
kimi no tonari ni itakute…  
watashi wa odokete  
'machigaeta' tte itta  
kimi ga warau sono kao ga  
mabushikute me wo sora shita"

 **["** **I purposely took the longer way home  
** **Just to be with you a little bit longer…  
** **I jokingly said 'Oops, we went the wrong way'  
** **You smiled so radiantly and looked away"]**

As the chorus is repeated. Not just myself, but the entire crowd were left in awe as no one expected the complacent contestant Yuigahama Yui to ever produce a performance that would go on to surpass the auditions. Even the man next to me probably started thinking of her differently than... whatever... he said... before...

The biggest difference that I noticed, were the judges. The female judge in the middle was in tears and the two men sitting either side of her covered their mouths in befuddlement as none of them, probably not even my favourite one... expected the performance to be THIS good.

"deaeta koto kansha shiteru"

 **["** **I am grateful to have met you"]**

"hajimete mita mankai no sakura …  
arekara dore kurai  
kawaretan darou?"

 **["** **I wonder how much everything had changed  
** **Since we last saw the cherry blossoms in full bloom"]**

"hitome mita toki ni omottanda  
'kono hito no koto suki ni narisou' tte  
nande ka na?  
wakannaiyo...!  
sorekara no mainichi wa totemo tanoshikutte  
dakedo onaji kurai ni  
tsurakattanda"

 **["** **I took a glance at you and thought to myself  
** **'It seems I've become to like this person'  
** **But why? I don't get it at all!  
** **Since then each and every day had been fun  
** **But at the same time it had been painful"]**

"gomen ne nanka umaku ienai yo  
dakara watashi kimi to nante iu ka …  
ima no mama sayonara shitakunai yo  
tomodachi no mama ja  
mou iya na no..  
ii yo to omotteta  
watashi...  
kimi no...  
kimi no koto zutto...  
... zutto mae kara  
suki deshita"

 **["** **I'm sorry I can't say it any better  
** **But I… about you.. how do I say it…  
** **I can't say goodbye to you now  
** **I don't want to stay as just friends  
** **I thought we could back then.  
** **I…  
** **you…  
about you…  
** **Since long ago… I've always…  
** **…Liked you"]**

As the instruments keep playing... and keep playing... the woman onstage by the name of Yuigahama Yui, completes what has been an absolute spectacle...

"ah yatto ieta"

 **["** **Ah I've finally said it!"] [Song end.]**

The end of the performance was greeted with a standing ovation by not only every single judge, but also every single person in the crowd, including the man sitting next to me. _Don't perv on her you cunt..._

"WOW!..." began the host as he walked in towards the centre of the stage. "That was one hell of a performance. Judges... what do you think?"

The female judge sitting in the middle wipes her tears away and approaches the microphone in front of her. "Yuigahama Yui... take a bow... I mean... I'm sorry I'm getting a bit emotional here..." With all due respect, I'll be pretty annoyed if she takes this opportunity to talk about her childhood or something. You don't bring that up in a final of a big competition when it's all about the person on the stage, not about someone sitting down on a comfortable chair having a glass of coke... or pepsi... I can't tell from here which one it is. Does that make me drink racist? "When I was young myself..." _You taking the piss?_ "There was once a guy who rejected me..." _I can see why... Wait no! 8man rude mode: OFF._ "... but still the times we spent together under a specific tree... I remember them like it was just yesterday." _The more she's speaking the more pissed o- I mean a_ _ww... what a sad story..._ On a serious note though, all these years later, she probably earns ten times more than that guy's family combined, she has many guys in the country who have a crush on her, was it really that serious of a feeling she held for him? She probably believed in rom-coms like 3 year-olds believe in Santa Claus. "For you to sing that song, it means a lot to me." _At least she isn't going go in too much detail._ "If you have a guy you feel similarly for, let me give you some advice live in front of everyone watching haha..." _No... don't 'haha'... you're wasting time... and my patience..._

"If I may interject..." My favorurite judge... verbal molester... speaks up. "We don't want this to turn into a relationship advice show." _Thank you..._ "This is a talent show. If you have a talent of giving relationship advice then you should've turned up at the auditions." The audience give a collective moan in sympathy towards the female judge. "What? There's still two more people to give their opinions on this performance, okay?" Thanks to the big screen directly in front of me, I could clearly see the disappointment as well as amusement on the face of the female judge who was now snapped out of her depressed mood. "Anyways... well... Yuigahama Yui... everyone might as well get used to that name because with that kind of talent, that kind of voice, and that kind of determination, you will become one of Japan's biggest stars... without a doubt."

Just as the cheering from the comment dies out, the final judge gives his opinion. "I remember during the auditions when I said that you were exactly what this competition was looking for. I can now say that I wasn't the least bit wrong. This performance will go down in the history as one of the most improved performances this competition has ever seen. Even though you made it into the final, I didn't think you'd be able to improve enough to have a chance to win it. But now... you're one of the favourites... without a doubt. Well done." The audience gives one last cheer to Yuigahama who had truly earned it.

"And you look great as well." added the female judge. _Seriously? Can't you for once disregard appearance?_

"Well..." said the host. "... those were some special few minutes, weren't they?"

As my brain cells regained its abilities, and I regained my consciousness, I felt something. Something I didn't expect myself to feel earlier when I came here.

I felt...

... hungry.

"Hey... Yukinoshita..."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm kinda hungry so I'll go get some snacks. You want anything?"

"Not really. I refuse to eat food from unhygienic origins."

"Suit yourself then." I quietly and rather slowly got up and walked towards the exit of the hall. Meanwhile, the host announced the next contestant...

"... Suzumiya Haruhi!"

Anyways, without really giving a damn, I kept on making my way towards a snack stall. I had expected it to be pretty empty there. However, it seems like one silver-haired boy... or man... or chimpanzee... and his friends were taking their sweet time deciding what to buy for themselves. _Damn a silver-haired chimpanzee would be interesting to find._

As the chimp finished ordering, he walked away with his friends who's presence disallowed me to see his face. I don't know why but I feel like I know a silver-haired chimpanzee in my life. But I think I may have known him to be a bug more than a chimpanzee. _Oh well..._

I got myself some snacks for way cheaper than I had expected. Without any further complications, I went straight back to the hall. Just as I do so, the next contestant arrives. Meanwhile, I still had to know how the Zuzumiya girl had done.

"Yukinoshita... how was the previous performance?"

"It was actually far better than I had expected."

"Possibility of winning the competition?"

"God knows..." **[3]**

"Anyways, I got snacks for very cheap. You might want to get some yourself. There's still time before the ranking announcement."

"The fact that they're cheap goes on to prove my point that the food would be very unhealthy. You still have time to throw yours away."

"Umm..." _Shall I eat it? Or shall I throw it away? It can't be that bad... surely..._

Over the following hour or so, the remaining contestants performed with every ounce of talent they had. And here are the highlights of the acts that we should be wary of according to Yukinoshita...

Shuichi Shindou, the male singer who also prefers singing English songs...

"Nobody said it was easy  
Oh it's such a shame for us to part  
Nobody said it was easy  
No one ever said it would be this hard...  
... I'm going back to the start." **[4]**

Kuroba Kaito, the magician heartthrob with his classy attire...

"Can we please have you confirm that the card you took and is in your hand was a 3 of diamonds..." he asked the female judge.

"Yes it was indeed." she replied.

"Now... if I may ask you sir..." He approaches the male sidekick judge. "Could you please name a suit for me. So hearts, diamonds, spades, or clubs."

"Hearts."

"Fantastic. Now, if I may come to you." He walks over to the final judge. "If you could please give me a value for the card."

"Queen"

"Thank you. Now... the card in your hand ma'am... what do you think it will be?"

"Guessing from the fact that you're a magician, probably queen of hearts?"

"Okay... fair enough... open your hand." As you'd expect, she complied and revealed...

"It's blank." she said.

"Now turn it upside-down."

"It says 'Open the box'."

"Now as you all know, I haven't touched the three boxes which I placed in front of you at the very start of my act. Sir if I could ask you to open yours first please." he requested the sidekick. He opens the box slowly to add dramatic effect which really isn't what was asked of him. But what he reveals... "It seems like there are some diamonds in there. Not real ones so please, to all the women watching, don't get excited. Anyways, could you please count the number of diamonds in there for me. And you can show it to the camera as well."

"There's three." The audience gasped as they realised what that meant.

"Ma'am... if you could please tell everyone which card you first had inside your hand."

"Three of diamonds." she replied.

"Fair enough, now if I may ask you to open your box please." This time, the revealed contents were... or should I say content... "It seems like there's a cotton heart. Not my heart, so to all the women watching, don't get excited." _Eww..._ "But it seems like this heart has a little crown on it. Ma'am if you could read out what it says..."

"Queen..." Another gasp...

"If I may ask the audience... what suit was chosen for a card just a few moments ago?"

"HEARTS!"

"And what value was chosen?"

"QUEEN!"

"Thank you. Now there's another box that we need to deal with. Unfortunately I haven't got any gifts left, but there's one lost thing that still needs to be found. So... sir if I could ask you to open the final box for us please." The final judge opened the final box. Instead of some fancy props, what was revealed was simply... "It's a card. If you could turn this card around and show the camera what card it is..." The audience gives the loudest gasp yet, as the card was... "... it's the three of diamonds."

Yuzuriha Inori, the singer with a voice comparable to Yuigahama's when it comes to quality...

"nozomanakereba ushinai no ni  
motomezuni ha iranai yo  
donna mirai ga kono saki ni atte mo

yume wo mita ato de  
kimi ha mada tookute  
kimochi dake saki hashitte karamawari  
hana no ame ga furu kono mich ha kawarazu  
ude wo karame arukitai na" **[4]**

Arima Kousei, the pianist who has caused tears in every performance he's done so far...

 _Umm..._

 _Umm..._

 _How am I supposed to describe his performance though?_

 _Oh well..._

*Ding dang dong donga dingalingadingdon trrring dung dungi dung dong danga dang dung trung trunk autocorrect stop taking the piss ding tangadunganga dungugu banana banana banana banana danga dung dinging dongongi doing dong ding dang dangerous dangi daniel trung dengue autocorrect I meant dangeou not dangerous dung ding ting ting deng dang dingalingadingdon megalodon is the biggest shark to have ever lived and no Yukinoshita it doesn't make a shaa sound dong ding ding dungugu dung watermelons dang dang trang dung ding ding dingalingading ding don tron trrrrrrriiiiiiiing*

Yeah... that's how it was. No I'm not lying. What did you say? My lie in April? **[5]** No... it's not April fool's day. Okay fine... the performance was way better than that. In fact, I even suspect that Yukinoshita was tearing up whilst listening to it.

Anyways, with all the performances wrapped up, there was only one thing remaining... the results being announced. There was an hour remaining until that took place. Until then, there were guests performances. Plenty of them. In fact, so many of them, that I can't even be asked to narrate them.

* * *

An hour has passed, and the tension has started to kick in... harder than you could imagine. The main reason behind that, was Yuigahama's performance. It was brilliant. Had the performance been nowhere near as good as it was, I wouldn't have been so nervous as I would've been pretty much certain that she doesn't stand a chance. But now... she has every chance of winning this competition. And that gives me every reason to be nervous.

As the host makes his way to the centre of the stage, it was obvious that he was about to finally welcome the contestants one by one. This is it... it's time for-

 _Why is my stomach being a little cunt?_

Normally, even if someone tells me that something might be unhealthy to eat, I think to myself...

 _"What are the odds?"_

And then I end up eating it and live on without it causing me any problems. But this time...

"Hikigaya-kun, where are you going?"

"To the toilet."

"Why now?"

"Stomach is being a bitch."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd say 'I told you so'. But, as I have told so with such vehemence and frequency already, the phrase has lost all meaning. Therefore, I will be replacing it with the phrase, 'I have informed you thusly'." **[6]**

Without entertaining her with a reply, I proceeded to pace towards my destination... the toilet. I prayed that there would be a free cubicle so that I can return before the announcements begin.

The scene was empty as I rather gladly believed that there would be no problem. But then again, in my life, there's a problem if I don't expect there to be one.

There were four cubicles, three of them were locked with a sign in front of them saying 'UNDER MAINTENANCE'. The only one that was sympathetically left for use, was occupied. _Fantastic..._

When someone has to go, they will do pretty much anything to go. In that case, the first thing I decided to do was to knock politely and ask the person inside to maybe hurry up a bit.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Yes?" answered the person inside.

"Umm... as you may know already, other cubicles are under maintenance so it would really help if you could hurry up a bit."

"Onii-san?"

"Ta-Taishi?"

"Ahh it sure has been a long time."

"I'm sure we can talk more afterwards but now I really need to use the toilet."

"Don't worry about it onii-san, give me two more minutes."

"Sure."

2 minutes later...

"Taishi... two minutes are over."

"Ahh okay then give me one more minute."

"Okay but hurry up."

1 minute later...

"I'm starting to get a bit desperate here."

"Just a minute."

"Okay..."

3 minutes later...

"Okay now I've given you two more minutes than what you asked for. You've got no excuses. Get out."

"Woah woah woah... onii-san are you perhaps getting rude to me? I only need one more minute."

2 minutes later...

"Taishi... please... don't take the piss."

"I'm not taking a piss, I'm taking a shit."

"You're not funny."

"Oh... okay then... I'll need five more minutes then."

"Listen to me... from one man to another... please... please let me go."

"I said five minutes."

"No! You don't need five minutes. You're already done."

"Fine... but tell me first... do you need to Venus or Uranus?"

"The hell you on about?"

"I'm asking you where do you need to excrete from. Venus is penis. Uranus is... pretty self-explanatory."

"Again... you're not funny."

"Tell me what you need to do then I'll let you go."

"I need to shitia."

"I don't understand what that means."

"Fine... I need to Uranus."

"Eww... you need to what?"

"I'll kick this door up Uranus."

"Are you pissed?"

"What do you think?"

"In that case you don't need the toilet if you've already pissed."

"Taishi if you don't-" The door slowly opened and out came Shitia himself. With an evil grin on his face, he somewhat scampered past me. As much as I wanted to slap him in the face, I had more important things to do. However, there was one last thing he had to say...

"Vengeance... is sweet."

* * *

Having finished my business, I left as soon as possible. I had probably missed around half of the rankings, but still... better late than never. But on my way...

"Onii-san..." _Hah?!_

The peasant by the name Taishi, wait... I mean Shitia, was standing as if he had been waiting to talk to me. Had I not remembered the reason behind him not letting me use the toilet, I'd have probably shouted at him. Regardless... _what does he want with me?_

"What do you want?" I replied.

"Oh..."

"What?"

"Nothing... I just thought that you'd ask me why I'm in Tokyo."

"Not that I really care but... why are you in Tokyo?"

"Well... me and my friends just came on a little trip." _Wow... how fascinating..._

"So what do you need from me?"

"Umm... Saki-nee-san didn't want you to know but... we're moving houses."

"Is that why you're on a trip with your friends? One last time you hang out with them?"

"Yes..."

"Okay then... I guess all you have to do is give me the new address and I'll visit your family if I'm free sometime."

"That's the thing... Saki-nee-san doesn't want you to know."

"Why?"

"Because she felt like the friendship between you and her is bringing her more sorrow than happiness." _What?_ "I don't know if it's romantic or not, but she certainly has feelings for you, and... it's just that I can't not have you know about it." Before I could even say a word in response, he simply walks away. _If that's what Kawasaki wants... then it's fine. It's just that... I'll be hurt. More than it should._

The only thing I could do to discard those thoughts was to go back to where I needed to be... the hall. For all I know, Yuigahama could already be eliminated.

As I reached my seat after what seemed like an eternity, I ignored everything and everyone around me and simply focused on the stage. There were six remaining contestants. Thankfully, Yuigahama Yui was one of them.

"Hikigaya-kun... are you listening to me?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you're alright. You took awfully long to come back."

"Umm... it's... a long story."

"... is Suzumiya Haruhi." The host interrupted our conversation by announcing the contestant who had finished sixth. As it turns out, it was the Zuzumiya girl with the guitar. "An absolutely fantastic campaign but unfortunately... it ends here. Please can we have a huge round of applause for Suzumiya Haruhi please!" Whilst myself and the rest of the audience complied, I tried identifying the four that remained in contention alongside Yuigahama. "That leaves us with four contestants remaining... Yuzuriha Inori, Kuroba Kaito, JXJ, Yuigahama Yui, and Arima Kousei. In fifth place... is JXJ." _YES!_ The nine men walked out of the stage disappointed whilst the host smothered them with praises.

I looked at Yukinoshita who clearly looked tenfold more nervous than me. I don't know if she's actually as nervous as she's indicating or if I'm just too good at not showing the signs unlike her.

After the group departed the stage, it almost felt like half of the stage had been wiped out. With the stage being more empty, the camera was able to focus more on the emotions of the remaining contestants. Everyone except the magician, weren't able to contain their anxiety.

"Well... four contestants... one prize. In fourth place..." *Sounds of dramatic heartbeats* "... is Yuzuriha Inori." _Phew..._

This was one achievement for Yuigahama. She's now the best singer in the competition. Now it's a matter of if she is THE BEST in the competition or not.

"Wow wow wow... it's getting a bit too tense in here now." continues the host. "Without further ado, I guess we should get on with... the third place. Which is..." Now I know that I'm not someone who works at betting companies. And I also know that my prediction skills aren't legendary or anything. But still, I 100% knew exactly what the host was to say next. "... we'll find out after the break." _Yep... exactly..._

I wonder who actually wants to watch advertisements anymore. They're just... pointless... and no one really cares about them. Unless it's a MAX COFFEE advertisement, then that's fine.

After a couple of uneventful minutes spent just sitting and looking at the stage, the show resumes. The audience roar cheerfully, wasting even more time.

"Welcome back everyone, before the break, nine finalists were knocked out of Japan's got talent. The three remaining... are Kuroba Kaito, Arima Kousei, and Yuigahama Yui." Once there was silence in the audience, the host continued. "So... in third place..." *Sounds of dramatic heartbeats* "... is Kuroba Kaito." _Oh... my... God... she's in the top 2._

I couldn't pay any attention to anything else going on the stage as I contemplated on the fact that... Yuigahama Yui... is in the top 2 of Japan's got talent. Let me say that again...

Yuigahama Yui... is in the top 2 of Japan's got talent. I almost felt sorry for her considering how nervous she might be feeling.

"After months of anticipation, the winner... of Japan's got talent... is either Arima Kousei... or Yuigahama Yui. Let's not forget that both of them will be performing after the announcement. Anyways, without further ado, it's time... to announce the winner." _He said 'without further ado' but the ado is not 'without further' at all._ "And it is..."

*Sounds of dramatic heartbeats*

*Sounds of dramatic heartbeats*

*Sounds of dramatic heartbeats getting faster*

*Even... faster*

*Goddamn it stop getting so fast*

"... Yuigahama Yui!" _No way!_

Confetti went up into the air as Yuigahama falls on her knees, covering her face with both of her hands. No one, absolutely no one, expected Yuigahama Yui, the airheaded klutz to achieve something so special. The way it's going, she might as well end up being even more popular than Yukinoshita... if she isn't already. And that's a statement and a half. Speaking of Yukinoshita...

"I can't believe it..." Tears of joy crawled down her cheeks. To see her best friend, and arguably her only friend, achieve something even beyond her high standards, must've been incredible to witness. Let's admit it, although Yukinoshita is a great singer, you wouldn't put your money on her winning this competition.

I guess there's no point mentioning that Yuigahama was sobbing like there's no tomorrow. Even the female judge cried for her. This moment is something that Yuigahama would never forget, and this moment is also, without a doubt, the proudest I've felt for someone else. The emotions were flying out, people in the audience shed a few tears in response to what was going on onstage. Some felt sorry for the pianist, and I'll admit... I was one of them. His performance was mind-blowing, and worthy of recognition. In fact, I even remember the entire performance by heart. It was-

 _Why is the host coming back to the stage with a disappointed look on his face?_

"Umm... excuse me... if you could all quieten down please... I've got something to say." He still... maintained that disappointed look. "Okay... uh... there's... umm... I have to apologise." _For what?_ "The first RUNNER-UP... is Yuigahama Yui." **[7]** _Say what?_ "The winner... of Japan's got talent... is Arima Kousei." There was a mixture of shock, rage, and happiness within the crowd. Me... I wasn't really angry. I was maybe slightly annoyed. You could possibly say that I was maybe a little bit angry. You could maybe also say that I was really angry. But to be completely accurate, you should say that I was angry to the point that I wanted to disintegrate the existence of the host onstage. But I wasn't the only one...

"Yukinoshita... you okay?"

"I'm thinking of which bomb to drop at his house."

"Y-You're joking right..."

"Even if..." You may know what an angry Yukinoshita Yukino looks like, but you may not know what an enraged Yukinoshita Yukino looks like. You probably don't want to know as well. I may not make sense here but... it was adorably terrifying. _Told you it wouldn't make any sense._

Anyways, the genuine winner of the competition walked hesitantly towards the centre of the stage as the trophy was snatched from Yuigahama's hands and placed on his. The cheer was subdued as the general emotion was anger directed towards the host. In attempt to save his existence from molestation, he decided to continue speaking...

"Listen everyone... let me take control of this. This is exactly what's on the card. I will take responsibility for this, it was my mistake, it was on the card. Horrible mistake but the right thing. I can show it to you right here." He shows the card to the camera, allowing everyone to see that it was written as clear as day... 'First runner-up: Yuigahama Yui', and 'WINNER: Arima Kousei'. In fact, the latter was written in a much darker and bolder font. So you're telling me that he only gave a shit about what's bright and disregarded completely what was dark. What even is he? The KKK? "The first runner-up is Yuigahama Yui. Still a great night. Please don't hold it against the contestants... please don't." How stupid does he think we are? Why would we hold it against them? So not only does this guy have amazing byakugan eyesight **[8]** , he's also a genius. Some may even call him... Eyenstein. _Ba dum tsss..._ "We feel so badly but it's still a great night. Thank you all." _W-Waaaiiit a minute... ha... haha... hahaha... 'we'? Who the duck is 'we'? Who's job was it to read off that ever-so-simplistic card? The fucking cameraman filming your fucking testicles? I feel like you're the reason the stereotype 'Asians have small eyes so they can't see properly' exists._

As Eyenstein finished speaking and turned around in embarrassment, there was still one thing left in this show... the top 2 performing after the results. Even though it is optimistic in some way for the contestant who finishes second, I still find it rather cruel. The runner-up just lost on the chance of winning the competition, they don't want to perform for shit. Especially in this case, asking Yuigahama to perform after what she went through, is almost torture. But still... it could still be an optimistic way to look forward to what will surely be a very successful career, regardless of what happened in the competition. As distraught Yuigahama may be feeling, this was one thing she had to do.

"Yukinoshita... do you think Yuigahama will be able to perform?" There was no reply. "Yukinoshita... what's done is done. You can speak." Again... no reply. "Yukinoshi..." _... ta? Where the hell did she go?_

I looked around the area in search of her, to no avail. Presuming that she went for a toilet break, I turned my attention back onto the stage where Yuigahama stood in the centre, preparing to sing one last time. She was struggling. If only there was a way I could show my sympathy to her...

Meanwhile, a strange appearance entered the stage and walked straight towards Yuigahama. I tried to comprehend who this person was. She looked rather young, was about as tall as Yuigahama, had jet black ha- _what is Yukinoshita doing there?_

Maybe because of everyone feeling sympathetic towards Yuigahama, none of the staff members tried to get Yukinoshita off the stage. I can understand why Yukinoshita would want to go and comfort Yuigahama, but what I couldn't understand was why can't she wait until the end of the show, which by the way, isn't long from now. But then...

I saw Yukinoshita signalling to someone offstage who brings another microphone to her. _Yuigahama already has one though..._

She then went on to speak a few words with the orchestra at the side of the stage. She joined Yuigahama at the centre of the stage. _Don't tell me..._

 _... that both of them will sing._ **[Song: Saori Hayami and Nao Touyama- 'Everyday World'. Yep... season 2 ED]**

The soft noise of the piano indicated the start of the performance. The judges and audience were in shock but patiently waited to hear both of them sing...

"seifuku mo kyoukasho mo sou  
katte ni kaerareru wake janai"

"tanoshikute chotto kuukyo  
jikan no naka oyogi tsuzukeru"

"heiseisa o yosoou tame dake"

"furumai kata no keisanshiki"

"toite bakari..."

"kore ga koi da to shita nara  
kodoku to iu tsuyosa nakushi sou de  
koware yasui no everyday world

"hamidasu kimochi"

"okubyou na mama"

"daremo mina kizutsuiteku"

As the instruments played on, Yuigahama's outstanding, and Yukinoshita's surprisingly brilliant singing reminded me of the moments... _"Hiratsuka-sensei... I believe I told you to knock before you come in."... "E-Excuse me... Hiratsuka-sensei told me to come here. Wh-Why the hell is Hikki here?!" Don't cry Hachiman. This may be an emotional performance for you to watch but don't cry._

"hashiru yo iki kirashite  
kimi ni dake mitomete hoshikute"

"nee wake wa tsukitsumezu ni  
mata ashita mo tonari ni itai"

"shinjitsu yori yasashii uso o please"

"deja vu darake no mirai de..."

"sore de ii yo ne?"

"moshimo suki da to tsugetara  
ima miteru keshiki wa yume to kiete  
mawari tsuzukeru everyday world"

"kawaru jibun ni"

"tomadoi nagara"

"daremo mina otona ni naru"

As the background singers do their part, I still try my best to not let my emotions out. _"I'm sorry if I caused any inconvenience."... "I didn't knock for too long so I guess I can forgive you." Hey... maybe taxi driving wasn't a bad job after all._

"kimi ga hora hoho emu tabi  
namae mata yobareru tabi"

"antei no position nakushi sou na shoudou"

"kokoro o tataite iru"

"kore ga koi da to shita nara  
kodoku to iu tsuyosa nakushi sou de  
koware yasui no everyday world"

"hamidasu kimochi"

"okubyou na mama"

"daremo mina kizutsuiteku"

"kawaru jibun ni"

"tomadoi nagara"

"daremo mina otona ni naru"

With pride, I held a smile as they finished their performance...

"Everyday world..." **[Song end.]**

The performance wasn't the best singing you would ever see... or hear. At the same time, it was still beautiful. But the main reason why everyone is giving them a standing ovation, is because of the emotion they put into this performance. And I would know that more than anyone else present in this audience. Speaking of the audience, they were chanting something...

"WAN MO SO" _What the hell?_

"WON MOUR SON." _You want more sons? Why? What's wrong with a daughter?_

"ONE MORE SONG!" _Oh..._

The two women onstage looked blankly as they were unsure of what to do. It's a matter of singing an extra song. This reminds me of high school, the Sagami incident. I actually had to do the harder work. Well... it's not as if I have to do anything now. Regardless of if they sing another song or not, I only need to sit back and-

"In that case we would like to call Hikigaya Hachiman from the audience, down to the stage please." _Duck my life..._

Thankfully, no one would really know my name so I guess I could just be incognito without even having to use stealth Hikki.

"Hikigaya Hachiman! That's your name right?!" shrieked the man sitting beside. _To all the kids reading this... again... pardon my profanity. But listen... never give your name to creepy old men, okay?_

"Ah-uhm..umm..." Just as I hesitated, the spotlight was now focused on me, whilst everyone else around me was trying to push me onto the stage. As I wasn't able to resist their efforts, I walked down to the stage myself as everyone cheered me on. _Komachi would be so proud of me..._

The cheers increased as I stepped onto the stage and joined the two women at the centre of it. It was then I noticed, the drums had been moved further inside the stage rather than having them in the corner where the orchestra played them. Not just that... the one who's supposed to play the drums, walks away. _Yukinoshita Yukino you are one evil devil._

"Yukinoshita... do we have to do this?" I asked her in private.

"Just look at Yuigahama-san..." As I complied, I saw a woman who has determination in her eyes to be successful. She now looked at the audience tenfold more confident than how she did all those weeks ago during audition. After everything, she won't just be Yuigahama Yui. She'd be THE Yuigahama Yui. Once she becomes famous, the service club would be nothing but a lame name for a group that existed over half a decade ago. But I guess... it's all part of growth. If anything... this was one last thing the 'not a lame name for a group that existed over half a decade ago' could do.

I sat down with the drums in front of me, whilst Yukinoshita spoke to the other members of the orchestra in order to tell them what they're supposed to play. I guess it's worth mentioning that over the years, Yuigahama's singing voice has become quite versatile. Whilst she has the cute voice that she used for the previous song, her voice can also become strong whenever she wants it to. And that's exactly what you should expect in the next song.

 _The service club's final request... requester: the audience... problem: they want to hear another song sung by Yukinoshita and Yuigahama... solution: Hikigaya Hachiman takes the drums, Yukinoshita Yukino becomes the background singer whilst also playing the guitar, and finally... Yuigahama Yui takes centre stage. Here... we... go..._

 **[Song: Nano- 'Nevereverland'. I'd recommend you to check out the English translation of this song afterwards. I feel like it represents Hachiman a lot.]**

The gentle sound of the piano greets the beginning of the song as you'd expect. _Gentle... indeed._

"Long ago, inside a distant memory,  
There is a voice that says  
'Do you believe a world of happy endings?'  
Even when the road seems long,  
Every breath you take will lead you closer to  
A special place within  
Your Neverever..." _I guess t_ _his is where the word 'gentle' decides to piss off..._

With memory of the lessons Yukinoshita gave me, I utilised the instrument in front of me to the best of my ability. Given the situation ahead of me, I knew... I wasn't going to mess up.

.

.

.

"Mezamete komaku wo tataki tsudzuketeru siren  
Kono sakebigoe wo oshikoroshite  
Nani mo shirazu ni shinon dake wo tsunagitomete  
Genjitsu no trap ni ochite yuku"

 _Given the situation ahead of me... I knew I wasn't going to mess up._

"Koukai wa shinai yo tsumiageta  
Chigireteta miraizu wo nagame  
Iki wo tomete sabitsuita kioku no hari  
Atama'n naka guru guru mawaru yo"

"As I close my eyes  
Nokosu ato mo naku kobosu oto mo naku iku ate mo naku  
I know that this is what I want, this is what I need  
Ima mo kurikaeshiteku zanzou  
Kizutsuita kako no bokura wa ienai mama de  
Sonna karamawari kawaranai  
Hibi wa mou tozashiteikunda  
So now kore wa boku ga nozonda My Nevereverland"

 _In case you're wondering why I'm not narrating too much, I'm trying to focus on my bit of the performance as well, okay? I apologise but please empathise._

"Samayou knife no you ni tsukisasu kotoba ga  
Kono kurushimi wo azawaratte  
Nani mo dekizu ni furueru koe wo nomikonde  
Kodoku no trap ni ochite yuku"

 _Empathise, okay?_

"Mayoikonda kono ashidori tsumazuite sonzaikan wo ushinatte  
Namida de somatta higeki no stage kuruoshiku  
Kokoro'n naka fura fura odoru yo"

"As I take your hand  
Kakenuketeiku kokoro no kioku iroaseteiku  
I know that this is what I want, this is what I need  
Asu mo kurikaeshiteku zanzou  
Tobidashita hizumu sekai ga kienai mama de  
Sonna karamawari kawaranai  
Hibi wa mou tozashiteikunda  
So now kore wa boku ga nozonda My Nevereverland"

As we reach a part of the song where I'm not violently involved, I look up at the judges and the audience. Not just them, but even the winner of the competition held faces of appreciation. _Komachi is definitely feeling proud right now. How many points is that, huh?_

"Mezamete yume no ato no you na komorebi ga  
Mabuta no urashimi wataru  
Subete ga kanatta hazu da to omotte mo mata  
Ochiteiku"

"As I close my eyes  
Nokosu ato mo naku kobosu oto mo naku iku ate mo naku  
I know that this is what I want, this is what I need  
Ima mo kurikaeshiteku zanzou  
Kizutsuita kako no bokura wa ienai mama de  
Sonna karamawari kawaranai  
Hibi wa mou tozashiteikunda  
So now kore wa boku ga nozonda My Nevereverland" **[Song end.]**

* * *

"... and that's it." I finished describing to the two women sitting opposite myself in a nice old place in Chiba called 'Saizeriya'. _Ever heard of that?_

"Come on senpai... I know that's not it, I wanna hear about the performance afterwards where you cried. I even saw it on TV." She turns to the woman sitting next to her who speaks next.

"Hikigaya-kun, just because your wife Yukino-chan wouldn't tell me about it doesn't mean you shouldn't as well."

"Listen..." I began. "First of all, Yukino isn't my wife. This is the 88th time I'm having to tell you. In fact, we're not even dating. Just because I sat next to her in the finale doesn't mean there's anything going on. The media are just obsessed and you know it."

"At least you called her 'Yukino' instead of the usual 'Yukinoshita'."

"Th-That doesn't mean anything. I'll call you 'Haruno'. That doesn't really make that much of a difference, does it?"

"Oh my... Hikigaya-kun, I see you're hitting on an engaged woman." _This woman..._

"I find it hard to believe that a human exists who is willing to spend the rest of his life with you."

"That's irrelevant. Anyways, just describe the bit where you cried. Please..."

"So do you want me to go into a flashback again?"

"Yep."

* * *

"tomerarenakatta namida  
ochiteshimau mae ni  
gomen ne to ieteta nara"

"hikookigumo ga nijinde  
kieteshimau mae ni  
aitai to ieteta nara wow  
owari no nai setsunasa kara mo  
nukedaseteita no ka na  
mata kimi to futaribotchi  
Hello hello, alone" **[4]**

* * *

As we are now back in the present day, let me give you some context here. It's now been a few months after the finale of the competition. Yuigahama has signed a contract with a recording company and has come up with a song, thanks to my and Yukinoshita's writing. It's time for her to produce a music video for it. Because this is the first music video she's making, we've decided to keep the budget low for it. As a result, I've been asked to come to Chiba during this weekend in order to appoint some person who is a rookie costume designer and just getting started at it. I have no idea who this person is but Yukinoshita gave me their address. But what's more eccentric is that she told me specifically to _"give them expensive souvenirs or they'll kill you"_. I don't get it. I'm just going to try and appoint them for the music video. I don't owe them any souvenirs. And not only that, Yukinoshita even specifically mentioned the word 'expensive'. At this point I don't even know if I'm going to a rookie costume designer or Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.

Anyways, what happened was that I ended up buying the souvenirs. But not only that, Yukinoshita is now demanding for me to get her the new version of Pan-san that she somehow hasn't bought yet. So here I am, being a ducking Santa Claus whilst Yukinoshita Haruno, found out about me coming back to Chiba and thus invited me out to Saizeriya. As it turns out, Isshiki had been working as a waitress as her part-time job and as soon as she saw myself and Haruno-san sitting at a table, she decided to take a break and join us. It wasn't a big deal, considering that no one goes to Saizeriya to begin with and it was rather empty during the late hour. Haruno-san took the opportunity to invite us to her wedding and since then they've been constantly talking about me. Mainly about something else that happened during the finale all those months ago. After our performance, it was the pianist's turn to perform. Instead of doing a piece all by himself, he invited Yuigahama to sing alongside. This was the performance which forced the tiniest drop of tear out of my eyes. As it turns out, the camera was somehow on me as that happened. _Fantastic!_

"... and that's when I... well... expressed my emotions through some hydrogen and oxygen... and sodium... and chlorine." I finished.

"Now that senpai finally said it, there's only one thing left to do..."

"What?"

A cake arrives and is placed on the table. _I'm not paying for this._

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The two said in unison.

"Umm... th-thank you but... my birthday was on 8 August. Your kinda late."

"Isn't it fitting then that we're celebrating your birthday eight days after the eighth day of the eighth month?" said Isshiki.

"Umm... I guess I owe you then."

"Yep... you're paying for the cake." _Bollocks._

As the evening went on, one by one, both women went home, as I walked around the beloved city by myself, but went home not too late. I still had a job to do tomorrow... appointing Queen Eli- I mean the rookie costume designer.

* * *

The next morning...

"Onii-chan! Wake up!"

"Rrrrrrrrr... laterrrrrrr."

"Hurry up! You'll be late for your first day of high school." _Funny..._

As I slowly sat up on my bed, my eyes made their way towards my younger sister. _Why does she look... 13?_

"Hurry up!" As Komachi kept screaming, I realised that I felt weaker, smaller, and... younger. _So the past 10 years was nothing but a dream? What... the... du-_

"AH!" I woke up as I found myself in my old room but renovated. It definitely wasn't my room when I was 15. _Okay so the thing before was just a dream. I really need to gain the ability to differentiate between dreams and reality. Basically anything that can counter a mangekyo sharingan._ **[8]**

As I made my way downstairs, Komachi was eating breakfast, my mother was making my breakfast, whilst my dad read a newspaper. _I guess this is what I missed out on during my childhood._

"Mum... breakfast is good." I said.

"You haven't even had it yet."

"I'll say the same thing after I eat it."

My three family members giggled in amusement. Dad decided to share the joke...

"Hachiman... it's funny how the only woman you can speak smoothly to is your own mother."

"Mum... the breakfast is shit."

"You haven't even had it yet." Mum replied.

"I actually did have a shit before I came downstairs."

"Only God can save your social life if you come up with those sort of jokes." Once my breakfast was ready, I joined Komachi at the table. Her being the youngest in the family, she would always act like the youngest in the family. I knew exactly how she would start a conversation...

"Onii-chan! Have you decided between Yui-san or Yukino-san yet?"

"Have you decided between job or no job yet?"

"What? Job of course. I'm not like you."

"Then finish your food then go study."

"So dense..."

"How do you calculate density?"

"No one's calculating you."

The banter and the comments shared at the table were all relevant, as it would all be taken into account for the final report. I'll explain what that is later.

After taking care of everything necessary, I left the house and made my way towards my car as I had a job to do.

12 seconds later...

"Hachiman... you forgot your keys." said my dad as he held my car keys with a smug expression.

"Please pardon my irresponsibility."

As I collected the keys, I started walking in a direction not towards my car.

"Hachiman... where are you going?" asked my dad.

"Yeah wait I'm just going to catch this drowzee real quick." **[9]**

12 seconds later...

"Yeah mine is CP 127. Komachi, mom, dad... what's yours?"

"215"

"183"

"301" _So I got the lowest one..._

12 more seconds later...

Anyways, considering how the appointing of the greedy peasant would be rather irrelevant, let me take this time to give you my report on the people who I know and care about.

Ahem...

After the process of growth...

Yukinoshita Yukino is an independent woman who can make her own decisions.

Yuigahama Yui is a dedicated singer who can overcome any obstacle as long she doesn't care what irrelevant people's opinions are.

Yoshiteru Zaimokuza is just unfortunate.

Isshiki Iroha is a confident young lady who has her future in her control with the first step being a part-time job.

Hikigaya Komachi is the cutest sister known to mankind. She always was.

Totsuka Saika... umm... I wish... I could meet... him again...

Hiratsuka-sensei is defying laws of humanity by getting married.

Yukinoshita Haruno is defying laws of humanity by getting married.

And finally, Hikigaya Hachiman doesn't want to be a house-husband anymore.

 _I feel like I'm missing one person._

With my report complete to the best of my memory, I reached the house of the individual. Surprisingly, it wasn't Buckingham palace! Anyways, I approached the door slowly whilst the wind decided to increase its speed. Hikigaya airlines reached the treasured door through the turbulence, and did the obvious...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

With the souvenirs placed firmly inside my hand, I felt less intimidated as the door opened... and revealed a certain human being who is...

 _Yeah you remember when I said that sometimes when you forget a name, just say the bits you know and ignore the bits you forgot..._

"Ka... wa... ii"

I just remembered the missing person. Umm... the human standing in front me... after the process of growth... is scary... as hell. Oh... not just that, she's also about to cry. Not just that, she's also become emotionally very strong as... _okay no she started crying._ Not just that, after the process of growth... her brother is still a cunt.

As I stared deeply into her eyes, the speed of the wind increases even more. I feel like it's those rom-com Gods. After making the lives of all the riajuus a pretentious heaven, maybe it could just look at someone like me for once and the people around me who've had it the harder way, and at least say...

 _"Ahh... they've grown."_

* * *

 **Tobe POV**

 _Seriously man... the rejection is real..._

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_** ** _: And that's it! From March 16 to August 16, this has been a pleasure to write. For those of you who don't know, this isn't my first fanfiction. But I guess I can call it my first successful fanfiction. To all followers, favourites, and reviewers, a massive thank you for taking interest in this story, it really means a lot. Whilst writing chapter 1, I had no idea how to end what I started. Right now, I'm fairly pleased with how it all turned out. As for the big performance, I had planned for them to sing Hachiman's song but the cringe was too unbearable. I will give a list of all the songs used and the websites who deserve the credit for the lyrics. Now I know that in the A/N at the start I requested you all to read this A/N. That's because I have an announcement to make. I'll discuss it after_ _I get all the references, etc. out of the way._**

 ** _Oh and the reason behind me using the JXJ band is because I wanted there to be at least one group in the finale. And because I recently got into kpop, I wanted to use that song as well._**

 ** _And obviously... a belated happy birthday to the man himself... Hikigaya Hachiman... 08/08._**

 ** _References:_**

 **[1] Fujinuma Satoru- The main character of the anime 'Erased'. He has the power to go back to the time right before something wrong happens in order to prevent it from happening.**

 **[2] All the anime characters used...  
. Arima Kousei- Shigatsu wa kimi no uso. Recommended by diceWW.  
. Suzumiya Haruhi- The melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. Recommended by diceWW and liquette.  
. Ayumu Aikawa- Kore wa Zombie desu ga? Recommended by Restraint.  
. Yuzuriha Inori- Guilty crown. Recommended by FireHero and liquette.  
. Shindou Shuichi- Gravitation. Had to do a bit of my own research to find a male singer.  
. Kuroba Kaito- Magic Kaito 1412. From chapter 9 of course.**

 **[3] 'God knows' is the name of a song sung by the character Suzumiya Haruhi in the anime. Again... my research but slightly combined with a reminder from liquette.**

 **[4] All the songs used...  
. JXJ... EXO: Monster(Korean version)  
. Yuigahama Yui... Supercell: Sayonara memories.(Recommended by WooHyeon and upvoted by Aqua-sama and JustReader17. Now you might say that 'Stay alive' got more votes than the song used but in my eyes, 'Sayonara Memories' got 2 primary votes whilst 'Stay alive' got 1 primary, and 2 secondary votes. Furthermore, I prefer 'Stay alive' over 'Sayonara memories' but I don't think many people listen to the song in the background anyway so I just decided to upvote 'Sayonara memories' myself purely because of its lyrics.)  
. Shindou Shuichi... Coldplay: The Scientist  
. Yuzuriha Inori... GARNET CROW: Yume mita ato de.(In case you haven't guessed it by now... I'm a big detective conan fan)  
. Yuigahama Yui + Yukinoshita Yukino... Saori Hayami and Nao Touyama: Everyday World  
. Yuigahama Yui + Yukinoshita Yukino + Hikigaya Hachiman... Nano: Nevereverland(Again... I'd recommend you to check out the translated lyrics)  
. Yuigahama Yui + Arima Kousei... Nao Touyama: Hello alone Yui ballade**

 **[5] The anime that Arima Kousei is in can also be called 'Your lie in April'.**

 **[6] Quoting Sheldon Cooper once again. In case you don't know who he is... he's a character from the popular TV series 'The Big Bang Theory'.**

 **[7] Remember the reference I made in the very first chapter? The whole 'There has been a mistake...' thing has been taken from the event in real life where Steve Harvey infamously announced the wrong winner of the 'Miss Universe' competition by mistake... everything said by the host in this chapter is pretty much exactly what Steve Harvey said in real life. You can check out the video on YouTube if you don't believe me.**

 **[8] Two types of eyes from the 'Naruto' franchise. Byakugan's main ability is to allow better eyesight and for a longer distance. Mangekyo sharingan is a different type of eye which can be used to make a victim fall in an illusion without the victim even realising it.**

 **[9] Pokemon Go! Come on... everyone knows what that is. Drowzee is simply a pokemon that you can catch... and it's a decent one... albeit not an amazing one.**

 _ **Final**_ _ **Notes:**_

 ** _Credits for the lyrics of the songs go to... Google... yeah... deal with it. Just kidding... there was anime lyrics dot com, kpopviral dot com, wintersakura dot wordpress dot com... and if there were any else... I really don't remember._**

 ** _Again... thank you to everyone who read this and enjoyed the 5 month journey. Thank you to liquette for uploading a Russian version of this fic onto a Russian website. If you guys go to ficbook dot net/authors/liquette, you'll find it._**

 ** _But now... here's the important bit. This may very well be my only fanfiction, or this may be the start of many. But still, I need to hear from you guys if you want more fics from me, and if so, what types of fic you would want me to make._**

 ** _Regarding this fic, for the majority of it, I considered having some sort of pairing. But in the end... I simply didn't feel like a romantic couple would suit this fic. But hey... I know that some of you would like to see HachiYukino interactions in their workplace, the Kawasaki conclusion, Yuigahama's conclusion etc. And some of you ultimately want to see a pairing. To all of you who fit in any of those categories... fear not._**

 ** _I will upload one more chapter on this fic where I'll summarize the whole story and then give all my readers options for which fic they would like me to make next. And one of the options would be a sequel for this fic where I will have a pairing. It could be Yukino... could be Yui... could be Kawasaki... could be Iroha... hell, it could even be an OC, who knows! But in my mind, the 1st and the 3rd options seem likeliest... but the 2nd option is also very much possible._**

 ** _Anyways, after 12 chapters and 5 months of 'Growth'..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)_**


	13. Summary

_**Hey again! This is a summary of this fic where I'll pretty much summarize the events in each chapter(duh...), and then discuss future fics, and also do something I feel like is an interesting thing to do... an award ceremony.**_

 _ **Anyways, first things first, a summary of this fanfiction chapter by chapter. You may choose not to read it.**_

 _ **Chapter 1**_

 _ **Hachiman is a part-time taxi driver who on his last day of taxi driving, is waiting for clients at an airport. A young woman approaches him and asks for his service. He's told to drive her to her home for which she gives him the address. As he couldn't care less about the woman, they didn't make any eye-contact throughout the entire journey, during which the woman asks him to pick her up again at a certain time as she has to attend an audition for a talent competition in which her friend is participating in. Only when Hachiman sees the name of the family written outside the destination, he and subsequently her as well, recognised each other's identity... because the woman was Yukinoshita Yukino all along. After spending some time with Yukino and her sister, Hachiman sets off, but not before realising that the 'friend' of Yukino's who'll be participating in the competition, is undoubtedly Yuigahama Yui. As he comes back to pick her up again , it's revealed that he now owns a car. He drives Yukino to the audition centre where she goes inside with a ticket, whilst Hachiman decides to watch the auditions from a nearby cafeteria. In the auditions, Yui performs very well and thus qualifies. Yukino greets her after the auditions and leads her into Hachiman's car. This is where Hachiman reveals his identity to Yui, and thus the reunion is complete.**_

 ** _Chapter 2_**

 ** _After the reunion which had to wait 6 years, Hachiman drives the two women into a bar where they consume some alcohol. This is where Hachiman becomes very drowzy and allows the other two to play some pranks on him. In the end, as Hachiman falls sound asleep, Yui decides to stay with him as he sleeps inside his car whilst Yukino goes home. This is when Yui reveals how she feels that the happiness from the reunion is very temporary based on how she could end up moving to Tokyo because of her increasing fame. The next morning, Hachiman drives Yui home and then returns home himself. This is where he finds out that he's received a letter from a novel editing company in Tokyo which exclusively invites him over to Tokyo to work for them. As he's determined to follow his dream, he decides to accept the offer whilst also recalling how his reunion with Yukino and Yui was hyped for nothing. Meanwhile, Haruno approaches Yukino and tells her that she would have to go to Tokyo in order to attend a meeting because Haruno wouldn't be able to. Furthermore, Yukino is also advised to stay in Tokyo and pursue a career there. Yukino is convinced by the advice and decides to move to Tokyo, whilst also feeling sad about the fact that the whole service club reunion would have all been for nothing. The three main characters text each other and subsequently meet up near a shopping mall where they all reveal how their futures will be set in Tokyo._**

 ** _Chapter 3_**

 ** _After the revelation, the three express their shock and happiness at the fact that not one of them, but ALL of them will be moving to Tokyo. Meanwhile, Komachi arrives at the scene and invites both Yui and Yukino to a meal at their house. As it turns out, Kawasaki Saki(who had been Hachiman's only friend during the past 6 years) and her brother Taishi were also invited to the lunch. As Hachiman already has a hate for Taishi, it increases when Taishi tricks him into revealing one of his embarrassing secrets. In return, Hachiman decides to play a joke where he doesn't let him use the toilet as he gets more and more desperate for it. Eventually, after everything is over and the guests are about to leave, Hachiman finds out that Yui and Yukino are planning on a road trip for the three of them. Whilst discussing about this trip, Saki enters and says that she has a request._**

 ** _Chapter 4_**

 ** _Saki reveals that she feels her younger sister Keika is being mistreated at school. As a result, they arrange to meet Keika the next day at Hachiman's house. Only Yukino is able to see through Saki's lie, and as a result, doesn't attend the meet-up. She knew that Saki wanted to spend some time with her potentially only friend before he leaves the city. The problem was that Yui ended up attending the meet-up whilst Yukino wanted Saki to spend time alone with Hachiman. As a result, Yukino had to come to the rescue as she arrived at the scene alongside Hiratsuka-sensei. Whilst Keika's acting was good enough to not let anyone suspect Saki, Hiratsuka-sensei ended up removing Keika from the scene by saying that she can take over the request whilst all she did was drop her home because Keika never had any school problems to start with. Meanwhile, upon Yukino's secret advice, Saki goes on to request Hachiman to go to some car showrooms and recommend cars for her brother. Because of 'recommending cars' being something Yui has no clue about, Yukino is able to convince her to return home and do some packing, leaving Saki alone with Hachiman. They take a trip to the showroom after which Hachiman goes on to drop Kawasaki home where they share an emotional farewell._**

 ** _Chapter 5(Filler)_**

 ** _After the farewell, whilst Hachiman is making his way back home, the violent weather forces him to enter a cafe where he finds Yukino and Hiratsuka-sensei, and thus joins the pair. After sharing few moments of banter, sensei leaves as Yukino is left alone with Hachiman. Yukino recommends Hachiman to go on a city tour with her, which he ends up doing. In order to avoid having a dinner potentially too exorbitant for him, Hachiman comes with an escape plan which involves an alleyway. This was where they're attacked by some gangsters who almost forced them into giving all of their valuables, had it not been for Zaimokuza Yoshiteru who, alongside Hachiman, were able to defeat the gangsters. Zaimokuza then goes on to invite Hachiman and Yukino to his place where they have dinner, whilst Hachiman notices the unfortunate state of their family. Yukino reveals her disappointment after they left as she leads him eventually to a cinema hall where they ended up watching the premiere of a Pan-san movie._**

 ** _Chapter 6(Sort of a filler)_**

 ** _After bidding farewell to his family, Hachiman joins his two ex-clubmates as they begin their road trip. As the car journey was to be very long, eventually a tire goes flat. In the midst of nowhere, they needed to do something out of the ordinary in order to get help. Due to the road being in an area close to tourist attractions, the people Hachiman asks help from, are all from different nationalities, hence he encounters different languages and cultures as he asks for help. Eventually, he gets help in the form of Kakeru Tobe who gives him a lift to a workshop after which everything is sorted out. Once Hachiman returns, he finds the mood to be quite dull because of how Yui answered an important call for Yukino in an extremely rude way(due to a misunderstanding of course). Hachiman then plays an uplifting song in the car as they drive away._**

 ** _Chapter 7(Filler)_**

 ** _Hachiman has a dream where he's 15 again and in the hospital after the accident occurred, where he thinks that everything that happened in real life was just a dream. He then wakes up in his hotel room to realise that it was a dream after all. After breakfast, the three restart their journey where after a long day of touring, the two women fall asleep whilst Hachiman drives on. This is when Yui and Yukino have similar dreams to Hachiman's. However, after Yukino's dream finishes, she finds Hachiman's face directly above her which she ends up kissing. She feels scared for what she did, but then she realises that that was a dream too._**

 ** _Chapter 8(Sort of a filler)_**

 ** _The road trip is over as the three arrive at Yukino's house. After placing the already asleep Yukino in her bed, Hachiman goes to sleep in a different room whilst Yui goes to sleep alongside Yukino. Due to being constantly pushed around, Yui ends up subconsciously walking towards Hachiman's room and ends up sleeping next to him. Yukino finds out about it and has the obvious misunderstanding. After some awkward moments, the misunderstanding is cleared on the dining table during breakfast. After discussing their future plans whilst finishing breakfast, Hachiman leaves to prepare himself for his first day at work. Chapter ends with him just walking inside the building where he'll work._**

 ** _Chapter 9_**

 ** _On his first day of work, he meets three important people: Takahiro i.e. the fellow loner who was asked to show Hachiman around the building; Sarutobi i.e. the only other person in the company who had been exclusively invited to work there(apart from Hachiman); and Yoshitori i.e. the CEO of the company. In his first day, he establishes some sort of a friendship with Takahiro and a rivalry with Sarutobi. Sarutobi's attitude was so bad that Hachiman constantly felt like there was something he should do about it. Eventually, Yoshitori, after being impressed by Sarutobi's speaking, takes him aside to discuss some things whilst Hachiman and Takahiro leave the building after the working hours finished. Takahiro invites Hachiman into a nearby cafe where Hachiman agrees to go into once he's told that the TV would show the semi-final of the talent competition where Yui is participating in. Hachiman watches Yui's performance which was by no means fantastic, but at the same time... really good. He still wanted her to go through to the finale thus ended up requesting pretty much everyone he knows to vote for Yui. As a result, Yui ends up winning by 2 votes, purely because of Hachiman's added help. And therefore, she qualifies to the finale._**

 ** _Chapter 10_**

 ** _Hachiman and Yukino strictly tell Yui to not be so complacent for her next performance, after which Yukino also states that the meeting she'll be attending is having a party afterwards. For this party, she invites Hachiman but doesn't invite Yui as her punishment. Obviously Hachiman rejects at first but the offer of free food ended up being the trigger for him to agree. Once Hachiman gets there, Yukino discusses one of the reasons for why she invited him. She wanted to have a private conversation with Yoshitori who also happened to be at the party. However, Yoshitori had also invited Sarutobi to the party therefore Yukino wasn't able to do so. As a result, she requests Hachiman to take Sarutobi out of the scene, a request which he fulfils easily. The two men encounter each other in a washroom as a result. Their confrontation ends in Hachiman getting physically beaten up. After hiding his injuries for the remainder of the party, whilst in the car with Yukino, he's reluctant to let her know about it. This is where he reveals to her his plan of retaliation. This plan was originally made days before the party when Hachiman found out from Takahiro that Sarutobi had been requested by Yoshitori to make his speech for the newcomers' ceremony in English. The will to go through with the plan increased after the events at the party. Due to Takahiro being good at English, Sarutobi goes to him in need of help with the speech. After persuasion from Hachiman, Takahiro gives the English version of the speech to him instead, which he decides to manipulate._**

 ** _Chapter 11_**

 ** _Hachiman hands the manipulated version of the speech to Takahiro who then passes it on to Sarutobi. Before the day of the ceremony arrives, Hachiman invites both Yui and Yukino to attend it as guests. Yui agrees however, to Hachiman's mild confusion, Yukino rejects. During the ceremony, the vice-chairman(who is also the head of the department in which Hachiman works in), announces his resignation. Regardless, the ceremony carries on as the newcomers introduce themselves one by one. Eventually, once Sarutobi's speech begins, it turned out to be so embarrassingly outrageous, he was almost kicked off the building had Hachiman not interrupted and gave a little speech himself which somehow managed to save Sarutobi from that fate. As Hachiman triumphantly took his seat in the audience, Yoshitori reveals the name of the new vice-chairman. Much to Hachiman's annoyance, that name was Yukinoshita Yukino._**

 ** _Chapter 12_**

 ** _On the day of the finale of the competition, Hachiman drives himself and Yukino to the theatre whilst having to hear her annoy him further about the vice-chairman situation. Once they get there, after about two performances, it was Yui's turn. She ended up surprising everyone by putting up an outstanding performance. Whilst the other contestants performed, Hachiman left to get himself some snacks. This was where he spotted a silver-haired man who is later in the chapter, revealed to be Taishi. They both ate from the same stall and said stall happened to serve unhealthy food. As a result, right before the ranking announcement begins, Hachiman feels the urge to go to the toilet. There was only one cubicle in the washroom which was fit for use, however it was occupied by Taishi. Once Hachiman knocks to ask him to hurry up, Taishi ends up playing the same trick that Hachiman played on him during chapter 3. After everything was sorted out, Hachiman tried to make his way back inside the hall but was stopped by Taishi who had been waiting to tell him something. He tells him that his family, including Saki, were moving houses. But instead of giving Hachiman the address of the new house, he also reveals that Saki decided to not let him know about the address as she felt it was time to end their friendship, much to Hachiman's sorrow. After somewhat trying to accept what he was just told, Hachiman makes his way back into the hall where the ranking announcement resumes as eventually the top 2 remain, which included Yui. Initially, the host announced the winner to be Yui but after a few minutes of celebration, he walks back to the stage to reveal that it was a mistake and that the real winner was someone else. This leaves Yui devastated and she still had a performance remaining. Looking at her sorry state, Yukino decides to join Yui on the stage as they then go on to sing a song together. When the audience asked for more, the pair invited Hachiman onstage who ended up playing the drums as they performed one final song together. *Fast forward*... A few months later, Hachiman is back in Chiba where he's joined by Haruno and Isshiki at Saizeriya. He finishes describing the whole story to them, after which the three eventually celebrate his birthday, and then leave. The reason behind why he was back at Chiba was because he was asked by Yukino to appoint a certain rookie costume designer for the music video for the song recently made by Yui. After spending some time with his family, Hachiman sets off towards the address which was provided to him by Yukino. He knocks on the door, only to find out that the person behind it was none other than one of his only friends, who he thought he had lost... Kawasaki Saki._**

 ** _[Story end.]_**

 ** _Now that the summary is out of the way, I'd like to get on with the more interesting bits. Firstly, I'd like to hand out some awards to some of my readers. I haven't seen anyone else do this and I thought it'd be pretty fun to try this._**

 ** _Anyways... the first award... is for the first follower of this fic. And it goes to..._**

 ** _... Seedharry. So if you'd like to step up to the podium and collect your gold medal. Okay no... this is not a troll where I reveal the winner to be someone else. Congratulations m8..._**

 ** _The next award... is for the first favourite of this fic. And it goes to..._**

 ** _... Zero Gawaiin. Thanks to this individual, the favourite count didn't stay 'zero' for long._**

 ** _The next award... is for the most reviews left. And it goes to..._**

 ** _... wildarms13. Having reviewed in 11 out of the 12 chapters, I hereby rename this individual... 'wildreviewingfingers11'._**

 ** _The next award... is a bit of a weird one... it's the award for my favourite username/the username I found funniest out of all those who've followed/favourited/reviewed..._**

 ** _An honorary bronze medal goes to EverythingYouDoIsABalloon. A silver medal goes to Pika-pikachuuuu. The gold medal, by far... goes to..._**

 ** _... England Appoint Yuigahama. Yep... that's a username ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry but need I say anymore? Except... USA Appoint Yukinoshita... instead of Clinton or Trump._**

 ** _Anyways the next award... is for the most entertaining review. And it goes to..._**

 ** _ImaNukeYourFace:_**

 ** _"*_** ** _drops sick beat*_**

 ** _Yo.. my dawg...  
_** ** _I don't know what's goin on here  
_** ** _But peg me as a rapper? Dude...  
_** ** _Das not part o my career.  
_** ** _My thanks for the acknowledgement  
_** ** _I quite liked how this chapter went  
_** ** _But there was one complaint I sent...  
_** ** _Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!?  
_** ** _Sixth place!?  
_** ** _C'MON, MAN!  
_** ** _IMA NUKE YO FACE!  
_** ** _But as I left that made-up show  
_** ** _And went back to my neighborhood  
_** ** _I decided then and there I would  
_** ** _Need a better strat next time I go  
_** ** _So I won't make the same mistake twice  
_** ** _Yo, next time I won't play so nice  
_** ** _Pro, Ima ring up in the line  
_** ** _Kawasaki's family next time!  
_** ** _Then all you dancers, prancers and vixens  
_** ** _Gonna crash like a comet, and ima be blitzen  
_** ** _Straight to the front, to the top o the line  
_** ** _And you all gon surrender to the magic of my rhyme!  
_** ** _And so I, from my spot,  
_** ** _at the base of the mountain  
_** ** _Feelin like an outcast  
_** ** _Or maybe like an 8man  
_** ** _Swore my vengeance:  
_** ** _Next time, ima win this race!  
_** ** _How I gonna do it?  
_** ** _IMA NUKE YO FACE!  
_** ** _OUT!_**

 ** _*drops mic*_**

 ** _God, that was fun."_**

 ** _Well well well... I have waited way too long for this. Dear ImaNukeYourFace, as a predator, I refuse to remain nuked in the face. Therefore, wha- *Achoo* Umm... whoops... that wasn't meant to ha-*Achoo* Man what the hell is going on? Did I just say 'hachooman'? Anyways, it feels like UK VS USA as we head into round 2 of this rap battle. Yeah... I know it's weird. So I'll just time-waste with some trash talking..._**

 ** _People from USA can't beat people from UK because we have something special that you don't. Yeah exactly... the letter 'K'. I know you're thinking that UK doesn't have the letters 'S' and 'A'. But 'cause I don't give a F-UK... U can S-UK mA D-UK. Anyways, here goes my rap..._**

 ** _*Even sicker beat*_**

 ** _*Some more of that shit*_**

 ** _*Oh yeah...*_**

 ** _The next award... is for the most flattering review in this fic i.e. the review that made me the happiest. There were many to choose from, and if I was some normal guy I'd have said "EVERYONE GETS AN AWARD!" but no... the award goes to..._**

 ** _Guest: "Just like gintama of fanfictions." Whoever this guest is... thanks m8. When I scrolled through all the reviews, I went on a flashback to what I felt when I first saw each review. And for some reason, the flashback for this review was the happiest. There's nothing I can really say apart from that. If there's someone reading this who can come up with a good pun/joke, be my 'guest'._**

 ** _The next award... is for the review which had the most impact on the story. And it goes to..._**

 ** _dragonballaca: "would be great if hikigaya was dating someone insignificant from the series or saki or oc." Had this review not been posted, the whole thing with saki wouldn't have happened. I don't know what would've happened but I can at least say that the Saki bit was simply not gonna happen. We might have had a very different story from what we ended up with._**

 ** _The next award... is for the most destructive review i.e. the review that was the most negative but not in a critical way. And it goes to..._**

 ** _Original Zero - Daige: "_** ** _The fucking fourth wall breaking in this chapter ruined what could have been a great story. With Pan-change the panda taking breaks to focus on one, new story and you ruining Growth by breaking the fourth wall, I can't find too many good stories for this fandom. Hell, because of you only Pan-chan and gnt000q have decent stories._**

 ** _Sorry bro, but you suck"_**

 ** _Oooouuuch! I felt like mentioning this because destructive reviews are all part of a fanfiction. And to be honest, considering how this fic isn't THAT popular, I'm quite pleased with how the amount of destructive reviews were quite low. Just a question though... is there some sort of trend in this website where everyone seems to have a username with 'Zero' in it?_**

 ** _Anyways, the next award, is for the most detailed review. And without a shadow of a doubt, it goes to... (you don't have to read through it)_**

 ** _Guest: "_** ** _The fic is entertaining, your grammar doesn't have any noticeable errors, and your characterization, though a bit flanderized, seems on point._**

 ** _However, I take big issue to your choice to have the characters sing English songs during the fic's musical moments. This is an especially jarring issue with regards to Yuigahama's singing career. It's pretty much established both in canon and this fic, multiple times in fact, that Yuigahama is a dunce. However, you have her singing multiple English pop songs, and then you have multiple people praise her for her singing, including a judge parodying Simon Cowell, who would have probably noticed this issue and derided her for it. Does he know English too, along with the song in question? Because you make it seem as if he does, with the way he specifically praised her feelings being analogous to the original song. Are we supposed to believe that Yuigahama, in 6 years, has competently mastered English pronunciation to the point where her covers can match the original performers, who have had their entire lives to do such a thing? This coming from a girl who struggles with Japanese, her native language, after 24 years? If so, you need to establish that, and if you have, that establishment should be improved, for me at least. Maybe establish that she's been practicing English songs in particular for those 6 years. But in that case, why be a pop star in Japan? How do we know she can sing Japanese songs? How did she even find out about those songs?_**

 ** _I point this out because no matter how good a singer's voice is, if they cannot fluently pronounce their lyrics, they'll be laughed out of any professional stage, without fail. And you cannot simply say that the songs were translated into Japanese because a direct translation of lyrics would affect the entire performance structure of the song. It would affect the timing of the lyrics and how they correspond to the beat, and the annunciation of the lyrics. The song would likely be completely unrecognizable, and also hilariously garbled. Now I don't know if these songs were competently translated, so if they were, then this point, at least for Yui, is rendered moot. But if they weren't, I doubt Yui would have the capability to perform her song in fluent English to a degree where she impresses three Japanese judges. If this scenario plays out, this would change the entire plot of your fic, and that's another reason why I say you need to flesh this out more._**

 ** _This issue with Western culture being forcibly injected into places where it likely wouldn't belong also affects Hachiman, but to a lesser degree of urgency. First of all, I doubt Hachiman would buy an Audi over, say, any Japanese carmaker. He has too much pride in his Japanese heritage to do that. Also, Audi's tend to be on the lavish side of cost by themselves, and to get one into Japan, Hachiman would likely have to pay import costs as well, and I'm not sure that's something he can afford. Hachiman also has the same issue as Yui, especially in this chapter. In the same chapter, you establish that Hachiman cannot hold a basic conversation in English, for comedic effect. And that's fine. But later in the chapter, you have him and Yui sing a Blink 182 song, likely in English. He would have to know English decently well to know what the song is about, and he has to know what the song is about to do the call and respose you seem to indicate here. How would a Japanese man, who likely doesn't keep up with even the pop music of his own country, know about a Western band like Blink 182?_**

 ** _There's likely some things I'm forgetting to say here, but this comment's long enough. I would love to hear your perspective on this."_**

 ** _Whoever you are, thanks a lot for spending your time writing this review. I respect you a lot for writing such a detailed review with Yukinoshita level vocabulary, but here's one instance where it got a bit annoying. In the review where you responded to me responding to your review, instead of saying something like "how you went about addressing the issues really helped me understand", you said "how you went about addressing the issues alleviated my conscience". W-Whaaaaaaaaat? Excuse me... "alleviated my conscience"? I mean... I don't know whether to be annoyed at you for using extreme level vocabulary unnecessarily, or be even more respectful towards you because you're an Oxford student._**

 ** _Anyways, the next, and the final award, I shall present to the translator of this fic into Russian..._**

 ** _... liquette. Obviously 3 chapters in he approached me with the request and I accepted because... well... who could ever reject a trans... lator. And in case you're reading this, don't translate this chapter as well. But don't forget to ask the Russian readers if they want a sequel or not._**

 ** _Once again... congratulations to all award winners, and to all the readers in general... for reading all 12 chapters and also this extra one without giving up. Thank you._**

 ** _Now the next bit... and probably the main reason why people actually bothered to read this... it's to decide which fic I should do next. Now bare in mind that I may or may not be doing any more fics. Given my current life circumstances, even if I do end up doing another fic, the updates probably won't be half as frequent as the update frequency of this fic. With that out of the way, let's get right into this._**

 ** _For each choice I'll give you the potential title, synopsis, genres, pairings, main characters, a detailed synopsis where I go on to spoil chapter 1(only read this if the synopsis, genres, etc. fail to interest you), and finally my thoughts about it._**

 ** _I'll state it when we get to the sequel of 'Growth'. So here we go..._**

 ** _Option 1: _**

**_Title:_** ** _A choice, or a battle?_**

 ** _Synopsis:_** ** _Sometimes, to gain something, you must lose something. Does a young detective have the ability to do the same... even if it involves people? Even if it involves the very people he cares about?_**

 ** _Genres: _****_Crime/Suspense_**

 ** _Pairings:_** ** _Irrelevant but still... [Hachiman;Yui]_**

 ** _Main character/s:_** ** _Hikigaya Hachiman_**

 ** _Detailed_** ** _synopsis:_** ** _At the age of 25-ish, Hachiman is a detective and is in a relationship with Yui. Everything is going so smoothly, to the point that Hachiman feels ready to pop the question. However, unfortunately for him, on the very day he chooses to do so, she gets kidnapped. After managing to contact the kidnapper/s, Hachiman asks them what they want. This is when he finds out that they don't want any sort of money or certain items, instead, they want him to kill Yukinoshita Yukino._**

 ** _My thoughts:_** _ **This is one of the 2 fics which I'm ready to get on with straightaway. I've probably mentioned in many A/Ns that the chapter 1 is ready to go. Well... it's not ready to go now because that was written around May-ish I think... and my writing style has improved from then so I'll just have to quickly rewrite it. In one of the reviews, wildreviewingfingers11 mentioned that they wanted a dark fic... I don't know if this counts as dark but at least it's nothing similar to this fic that you just read i.e. 'Growth'.**_

 _ **And yeah... expect suspense, action, fighting, chase sequences, surprises, and maybe even deaths...**_

 _ **Option 2:**_

 _ **Title:**_ _ **The matchmaking duo of the century... or not?**_

 ** _Synopsis:_** ** _When no human can make it happen, a cat and a dog can._**

 ** _Genres:_** ** _Humour/Romance_**

 ** _Pairings:_** ** _[Hachiman;Yui]_**

 ** _Main character/s:_** ** _Kamakura, Sable_**

 ** _Detailed synopsis:_** ** _After realising Yui's blatantly obvious feelings towards Hachiman, the two pets take it on themselves to come up with a masterplan to make the pairing happen._**

 ** _My thoughts:_** ** _This is one that I'm not too keen about, but for me, this would be funnier than 'Growth' if everyone understands certain themes to this. Vote for this if you're willing to have a bit of a gambling vote._**

 ** _Option 3:_**

 ** _Title:_** _ **Green**_

 _ **Synopsis:**_ _ **He's always respected what others want. For once, can he prioritise his desires over others'? But does he even know what Kawasaki Saki wants?**_

 _ **Genres:**_ _ **Drama/Romance**_

 _ **Pairings:**_ ** _?_**

 _ **Main character/s:**_ _ **Hikigaya Hachiman, Kawasaki Saki, OC**_

 _ **Detailed synopsis:**_ _ **Kawasaki Saki accepts a confession right in front of Hachiman's eyes. He respects her decision but only if she knew that he was... in the simplest of languages... jealous. The title is 'Green' because the colour green signifies jealousy and envy.**_

 _ **My thoughts:**_ _ **I'll be alright writing this one mainly because it's much easier to write than the detective one. When it comes to Oregairu fanfictions, Hachiman and Saki are my 2nd favourite pairing so I'll have no real problems writing this fic. It's just that I'd prefer the detective one and the sequel of 'Growth' much more.**_

 _ **Option 4:**_

 _ **Title:**_ _ **The turning tables**_

 _ **Synopsis:**_ ** _How will he react when he is to face the unexpected truth... that he unexpectedly didn't expect? Can he accept what he didn't expect? Is this synopsis unexpectedly getting way too complicated?_**

 ** _Genres:_** ** _Drama/Romance_**

 ** _Pairings:_** ** _[Hachiman;Yui]_**

 ** _Main characters:_** ** _Hikigaya Hachiman, Yuigahama Yui_**

 ** _Detailed synopsis:_** ** _This is taken from the 'Whatever happened after' fic. After hugely suspecting Hachiman and Yukino to have mutual feelings, she decides to distance herself from them... causing Hachiman to come to an unexpected realisation._**

 ** _My thoughts:_** ** _As you all know... my favourite pairing... without a shadow of doubt... is this one. Whilst options 1 and 2 do have this as the pairing, the pairing itself won't be the focal point of those fics. As a result, this fic will be very hard to write as 8manYui is the most unpopular pairing when it comes to Oregairu fanfictions(trust me... it is). Regardless... I'd still prefer the detective one and the sequel._**

 ** _Option 5: Sequel of 'Growth'_**

 ** _Title:_** ** _A boss, a celebrity, and what the duck?_**

 ** _Synopsis:_** ** _He's a 25-year-old man with a prestigious job, one of his two best friends works with him, and the other is a celebrity. What next?_**

 ** _Genres:_** ** _Humour, Romance_**

 ** _Pairings:_** ** _[Hachiman;?]_**

 ** _Main character/s:_** ** _Hikigaya Hachiman, Yukinoshita Yukino, Kawasaki Saki, Yuigahama Yui_**

 ** _Detailed synopsis:_** ** _As you all know, Yukino is Hachiman's boss, Yui is now a singer and has released a music video for her song. It's just that the costume designer of that music video did far too well to still remain in Chiba. But she can't really afford any sort of accommodation. I wonder if there is a friend of hers who lives in Tokyo in an apartment all by themselves?_**

 ** _My thoughts:_** ** _Ahh... I really wanna write this one. But here's the thing. If you requested a sequel because you wanted to know what happens next and you eventually wanted to see a pairing, it's all good. But if you requested the sequel because you found 'Growth' funny and you want more similar moments, well... the idea that I have in mind, would mean that the latter part of the sequel PROBABLY won't even be half as funny as 'Growth'. But still... I believe that this could end up being a good fic._**

 ** _Option 6:_**

 ** _Title:_** ** _Around the world in 88 snowy days_**

 ** _Synopsis:_** ** _A newly wed couple go on a trip around the world. Nothing else. Full stop._**

 ** _Genres:_** ** _Humour/Romance_**

 ** _Pairings:_** ** _[Hachiman;Yukino]_**

 ** _Main character/s:_** ** _Hikigaya Hachiman, Hikigaya Yukino :p_**

 ** _Detailed synopsis:_** ** _No detail really._**

 ** _My thoughts:_** ** _This one is obviously for all you Yukinofags... yeah you reading this right now... you're probably a Yukinofag. This is basically Hachiman and Yukino going on a tour across the world after getting married. To be honest, this could be pretty decent because I don't find this idea to be VERY generic when it comes to HachiYukino fics. And by the way, the 'snowy' bit in the title does not mean snowy weather, it obviously refers to Yukino. Anyways, I'll try and include countries from every continent(except Antarctica). The countries I have in mind..._**

 ** _. Australia  
. New Zealand(frickin' love New Zealand)  
. China  
. India  
. Russia  
. Germany  
. Italy  
. Switzerland(AKA The most beautiful country in existence)  
. France  
. UK  
. Tanzania  
. Sudan  
. Canada  
. USA  
. Mexico(Probably not because I don't know ANYTHING about Mexico)  
. Chile  
_** ** _. And then Brazil for the Olympics_**

 ** _If this does end up being the chosen fic, I'm gonna need you guys to feed me with the knowledge about these countries, because I don't know a lot about all the countries I've mentioned. Furthermore, do let me know if you think that it would be better if the two had kids who came along(and also what age they should be)._**

 ** _[Options end.]_**

 ** _That's all the ideas I have. Please vote. Pls... Pls man... or woman... but personally I haven't come across a female in this website yet so yeah. Anyways, if there are ideas in here that you really like but don't end up being chosen, they're likely to pop up at the end of my next fic as well so it could be chosen as the fic after the next one... if you get what I mean. If there are any ideas of mine that you'd like to make fics on yourself, please PM me because these are my ideas and I feel like if anyone is to make fics on them, they should at least ask my permission. Depending on how special I think the idea is to me, and how much I trust the requester to make good use of the idea, I might allow others to use my ideas._**

 ** _If you're feeling kind, it would be helpful if you leave in your review about this fic saying..._**

 ** _. Your favourite chapter  
. Your favourite moment  
. If you were actually bothered to listen to the songs  
. If I should use songs to help set the mood  
. Which parts in my writing I should improve on  
. Which moment you found the worst  
. Which chapter you found the worst_**

 ** _Anyways, that's about it from this summary chapter and this fic as a whole. I'll speak to you again if I'm able to make more fics. If I'm not able to write anymore, this will be my last message to you so thanks a lot for reading and appreciating my imaginations. Until next time/For one last time..._**

 ** _Thank you for reading :)/Goodbye everyone :)_**

 ** _P.S: Everyone also say goodbye to ImaNukeYourFace as he's probably still waiting for my rap :P_**


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